Being Normal
by percabeth1212
Summary: Annabeth Chase, the famous celebrity from London, wants a chance to lead a normal life -at least a day when no one is telling her what to do or who to be. Granted two months in America, she meets someone named Percy, who she can't decide her feelings for. Does freedom really cover what she wants, or is it something completely out of the circle?
1. Chapter 1

** All rights go to Rick Riordan :)**

**Annabeth Pov**

_Be yourself_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't_

_Just be yourself, oh_

_When the spotlight shines down on you_

_I hope you are yourself, oh_

_You don't need to pretend, no_

_Just be yourself_

"Annabeth! Come on! You're going to be late for your photo shoot!" my stepmom, Sarah, called out from downstairs.

I groaned. Being a famous actress and singer in London is very challenging. I have about forty interviews a week, plus photo shoots and others. Fame comes with a price –and it's very expensive to pay.

I know, I live in a mansion and have lunch with people like Ellie Gouldingand Adele. Everyone treats me like I'm royalty. But my mom died when I was little, and my dad hardly has any time for me. Not that he cares. He only wants my money. I have ADHD and dyslexia, which comes with a package of no friends. No one really to talk to.

"Coming!" I grabbed my purse and rushed downstairs, my footsteps like an elephant's.

"Honey, you can't go out like that!" Sarah quickly dabbed some concealer on the pimple on the side of my nose. She put eyeliner and mascara on me, including lipstick, lip liner, foundation, blush, eye shadow, practically everything you can name. All that gunk would probably give me wrinkles by the age of 25 and I'm only 16.

_Sure, _I thought as I headed out the door. _I can't go out looking like my normal self. _The chauffeur and bodyguard, Tom, opened the door to the limo for me. "How are you today, Ms. Chase?"

"I'm fine, thank you," I nodded politely as I stepped in, then bit back a curse. I can act pretty well. In fact, since most of my movies have me with an American Accent, my British one went down the drain. Sadly, most of my life is fake. I pretend I'm the sweet little girl that is really only the outer crust of me. "Is there any water?"

"Would you like the one with a twist of lemon, or –"

"Just spring water, please." You don't know how many times I have to say that. Tom didn't look surprised with my answer as he poured a glass with a little pink umbrella sticking out. I've told him a thousand times that it wasn't necessary, but he insisted every single time.

"Here you go."

I took the glass and drank it, as I stared at the streets of London. Regular people going shopping. Regular people going to school. Regular people going to a café without all the cameras and the people crowding around you. Moving aside my sunglasses, I picked up my _World Glories book _and flipped to page 102. My absolute favorite of all: the Parthenon. When I was little, I always wanted to become an architect. _Annabeth, _Sarah would tell me sternly when she saw me drawing little sketches in the car. _Your chances of becoming an architect are very low. You'll be sorry later. _Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to becoming an architect anytime now.

a~a~a~a

After my photo shoot, I went back home to take a little rest. First, I ran up to the bathroom to wash everything off my face. Grabbing the makeup remover off the marble granite bathroom counter, I hummed my new hit song _Be yourself._ I pulled my long blond hair into a ponytail and switched into some comfortable clothes. My favorite orange T-shirt and jeans. To my surprise, Sarah came up to my room (which she hardly ever does) and poked her head inside.

"Annabeth, do you have a moment?"

_No, _I wanted to say. _This is my free time. _But instead, I sighed. "Sure, why not."

Sarah sat down next to me on my bed. "I know how you feel, with all the pressure and the…" she made a crazy gesture, waving her hands. I raised my eyebrow. She blushed, then continued, "Your father and I have decided to let you stay in America. 2 months. It's not exactly vacation since you're going to be going to school and staying in the house we rented, but you need a break."

I was speechless for a moment. "Really?"

"Well, sure." Sarah pursed her lips, then looked around my room. "You can start packing, now."

"When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Oh my goodness, thank you so much!" I leapt up to my feet and gave my startled stepmom a hug.

She smiled and sauntered out of the room into the hallway, holding her phone up to her ear. "Hey, Tom, how are you. Is the private jet ready? Oh that's great, perfect. We'll be ready at 8:00…" her voice faded away as she closed the door of her room.

I took out my suitcase. Zipping it open, I started to get everything ready.

**So how was it? I hope you guys enjoyed it all…this is my second story. My other one is the House of Hades –who else can't wait for it to come out?! Please review! It would mean so much. Sorry if I didn't please you. Love you all! –Sophia**


	2. Chapter 2

**Percy Pov**

"Can you pass me that?" my dad pointed to the fishing pole next to me. I grabbed it and handed it over to him. He gripped the handle firmly. "Thanks."

My dad's a fisherman. He has black hair and green eyes like mine. Our house is right next to the ocean, so we usually go there once or twice a week. A woman was walking her dog across the boardwalk. A few 5 year olds were jumping around in the shallow water, trying to keep up with the tides. _Low tide, low tide, high tide. Low tide, low tide, high tide._ Today, the ocean looked perfect. It was sparkling in the sun as if Tinker Bell scattered pixie dust all over it. Glittering green and blue, the waves overlapping each other unevenly, the salty smell lingering in the air.

I inhaled, smelling the wonderful scent. We rowed farther away from the shore as my dad caught more fish. It's amazing how many fish my dad and I can catch. He says the sea salt is in our blood. I've been going to the ocean since I was 2. Now, I'm 16. We used to live in Manhattan, but something happened there last summer, so we moved to California. We aren't exactly rich or poor, but we live in an average sized house.

"So, how's things going lately?" my dad asked casually as we fished.

I ran my hand through my hair. "You know, the same. Work, and stuff."

"Any girls?" he raised an eyebrow, teasing me as he tried not to smile.

I blushed, my face feeling as hot as magma. "Um, well, no…"

My dad chuckled, gazing towards the sunset. It was like a bunch of red, orange, and pink spilled across the sky. We sat down on the boat for a while, enjoying the view.

"You know, when I was little, I loved the ocean just as much as you do now," my dad broke the silence. "It helped me concentrate. Just one look –and magic."

"Yeah, but, you didn't have ADHD and dyslexia when you were little."

"Oh, but I had many anger problems. People used to say I caused earthquakes with my tantrums," he joked. Or at least I hoped he joked, because his face was serious. He had a faraway look on his face, like he was trying to remember something. I decided not to ask.

He saw me looking at him and his expression quickly turned. "So, let's see how many fish we've got this time," he smiled, standing up to examine the fish in the buckets.

p~p~p~p

"Mom, I'm home from fishing!" I called, taking off my shoes. My mom came in, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Oh Percy, sweetie, I'm so glad you're home!" She gave me a big hug. My mom works at a Candy Shop on the weekends, so she always smells like chocolate and milk. Normally, she works on her novel she's been writing since last year.

"Are you hungry?"

"I'll just take a nectarine and some apple cider." I opened the cabinet, taking out a plastic cup and walking over to the refrigerator.

"You have school tomorrow, so go upstairs and finish your homework, okay?" she gave me a smile as she stepped on the porch outside.

I sighed. "Okay." On the way upstairs, my phone started ringing. "Oh gods," I muttered and answered it. About the "gods". My mom and dad always say for some reason, and since I'm used to it, I say it too.

"Hello?" I said into the phone, taking a bite of my nectarine.

"Hi Percy!" an overexcited voice rang out. It was Rachel. I silently groaned. "I was just wondering if you were free tonight!"

"Oh, well, um…I have a lot of homework tonight, so I probably don't have time. Sorry."

I kept dodging her requests, but she didn't stop. She went on and on about how there was a new ice cream shop, or how she had two free movie tickets (it was tempting, but…), and the brand new mall section for what seemed like forever. It seemed impossible for her to stop. I tried stepping in, but she always interrupted and pretended she didn't hear me.

Finally, I took a deep breath, cutting through her in mid-sentence. "Look, Rachel, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness, but I _really_ have to go. My –uh…my mom's calling."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Are you sure? I hear –

"I'm sorry Rachel. Bye." I hung up, feeling a little annoyed. I looked my phone. Eight minutes and thirty seven seconds. A real good use of time.

You're probably wondering, are Rachel and I together? The truth is, I really don't know. We kind of bumped into each other. She's this red headed girl who isn't afraid to show her feelings, though sometimes I wish she was. I don't even know my true feelings for her.

Pushing the thought away, I entered my room. My room is pretty big. My bed is in the corner with my desk on the other side. On the walls are pictures of me when I was little. I pulled out my homework and stared at the first question.

Being dyslexic, it's really hard to focus. Especially when it's algebra, with numbers _and _letters. _What is P when A is equal to 32 and R is equal to 3 in P + A - R + 16 x 15 + 12 = 302? _Malcolm, this guy in the advanced math class, would probably just look at it and know the answer. And he's ADHD. Actually, I forgot to say that the school I go to is for kids who all have ADHD and dyslexia, except for a few kids like my friend Grover.

I squinted at the question. Okay. _A _is equal to 32. _R_ is 3. What is _P_? P + A - R. Hm. What was the order for the order of operations thing? My mind buzzed with concentration as I drummed my fingers on my desk, grasping for the answer.

After an hour just sitting there staring at the question, I gave up. I put a big question mark next to the question and decided to ask the teacher later.

**I know, I know, they haven't met just yet. Don't worry, Percabeth will come soon! Hope you enjoyed this chapter –added a little symbolism :) Hope you understood the Percy + Annabeth - Rachel math problem. Anyways, enjoy your day/night and expect more updates –sorry, I'm really busy this month. Take care, and PLEASE REVIEW :) –Sophia **


	3. Chapter 3

**Annabeth Pov**

_Freedom_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I don't know about you, but_

_I finally see freedom_

_Heading on my way, so_

_I can see the real world, now_

_It's freedom_

_Oh whoa oh oh_

"Don't cut it too short," Sarah warned as the professional hair stylist snipped off another inch. Last night, I gave a whole speech on how since this was my break, I got to look how I wanted. So my hair was now only a little longer than my shoulders. No makeup. And, I let my hair fall naturally into its little curls. Normally, Sarah would nag me and tell me to straighten it every other night, but not today. We'd made a deal.

When I looked in the mirror, I saw myself. Not Annabeth Chase, the pop star.

"Alright, Ms. Chase, the private jet is ready," Tom spoke up, holding the door open for me.

"Please just call me Annabeth," I told him, taking the door handle myself. Tom looked at Sarah, and she sighed and nodded in approval.

"Okay, _Annabeth_," he emphasized, with an amused look on his face as if he'd never actually said my real name before. "Let's get you off to America!"

a~a~a~a

On the jet, Sarah went over everything with me. "First of all," she began, "you are only staying in California for 2 months. No boys, at all. I mean it. Right now, you have Luke."

"But, why can't I…" my voice faltered, as I waved at her to continue. Sarah was right. I was only staying for 2 months. I wouldn't be able to have a steady relationship. Besides, who could I trust in America? "Okay."

Speaking of Luke, he is my "fake" boyfriend. Emphasis on fake. I don't like him at all. He doesn't like me either. In that way, I mean. We're almost brothers and sisters. We have to pretend because Sarah said it would be cute, and it would be interesting for the paparazzi. Sure, for the paparazzi, but not for me. Everytime we're together in public, we have to pretend we're a couple. It's really annoying. If I don't stay on the front page, Sarah will add something even worse. I'm sure I've got enough of _Annabeth Chase and Luke Castellan caught doing so and so _already.

"…No bad behavior during trip, no candy, absolutely _no junk food. _You're going to have another show when you return. We will not be having you gain weight. And, you have to be responsible of your own items…" she went on and on, speaking to me as if I was a helpless kindergartener.

I rolled my eyes and glanced over at Tom, who gave me a look of sympathy. Really, he doesn't understand how it feels like. I haven't had fast food or soda since I was _4. _Oh, that was when my mom was alive. And then Sarah came along, and became the director of _my life. _I'm not sure I even auditioned.

"So," she concluded, spreading her hands across her lap. "Any questions?"

_Yes, _my mind nagged. But I forced a smile, just to make her stop talking. "No, everything's clear."

"Okay. I hope you enjoy this trip! But, don't forget to finish your album, because when you come back, you will be busier than ever!" she click clacked in her shiny strapped heels over to Tom as they both discussed the schedule.

I took out a piece of lined paper, and decided to start on the lyrics. I was almost done with my album _The Story of Me. _They've only heard a preview of it –the songs _Be Yourself _and _Freedom_. My other songs in that album are done, and almost ready to be heard. They were basically mostly about my life. Sarah told me to write my last few songs about Luke.

"Make it obvious enough for everyone to know it's about him," she'd told me.

"What? I don't _have_ anything about him," I'd complained that sweaty afternoon. I'd come home from two interviews in a row.

"Well, what do you feel when you see him? How about, his eyes sparkle and dance? Or, or how about his laugh?" Sarah had pushed, dramatically acting out her words.

What _do _I feel when I see Luke? Well, uncomfortable, pressured, fake, annoyed, but I certainly don't feel love. No hearts or fireworks at all.

I tried starting out: _You make me feel like there's nothing else to worry about…_

Definitely not. Whenever there are cameras, I get really nervous, because this "love" isn't real. And I feel bad for taking up his teen love years away for him. I feel like a phony when I see him in public. All the fake hugs, kisses, and big flashy smiles that we both resent.

I wrote the next line: _Your blonde hair so soft in the sunlight…_

Ugh. I couldn't continue. How are you supposed to write a song that you don't feel? I put my pencil down in disgust, folding my arms across my chest.

a~a~a~a

Once we finally reached California (it took about 11 hours), we took a taxi to a really big white Victorian house. It wasn't as big as ours back in London, but it was still huge. It had a walkway that led up to marble steps. The path led through a mini garden with crocuses and daisies sprouting. Impressive, but I wished we could just have something more…what was the word? Oh yes, normal.

"Sarah, you really didn't have to rent a house _this_ big. Only you, me, and Tom will be staying here," I told her.

"This wasn't even the biggest house! Don't worry about little things like this," Sarah snorted. Of course, anything _normal_, to Sarah, would be like a crushed soda can on the sidewalk. Usually, everyone ignores it, or kicks it to the side. That's how _normal _was to her.

I decided to focus on the beautiful details on the house. This designer must've put a lot of thought into it, because the windows were so uniquely placed and the back and the front of the house both looked like the entrance. Through the windows, I could see laced curtains. The garage was big enough to fit 4 cars.

Sarah unlocked the door, then gave me a replica of the key. "We will both have one, and no going out after 8:30. Am I clear?" she fixed with a stern look.

I nodded eagerly, forgetting everything. "Thank you so much! Where's my room?"

"Go up the stairs –it's the second one on your left."

I took my suitcase from Tom and (with great difficulty) made it halfway up the stairs.

"Would you like help?" Tom asked, trying not to laugh.

I glared at him. "Of course I don't!" I tugged and the wheel got stuck between the railing. I pulled again. "Okay, I guess I would like some help," I admitted, as Tom gave me an _I told you so _look as he lugged the suitcase up the rest of the stairs and brought it to my room.

In my room, it wasn't that bad. It was about the size of two master bedrooms put together, with a bathroom in the back. Sarah had decorated it pretty well, with posters of me when I was on tour. Almost everything had my name_ Annabeth Chase _on it –bed sheet, blanket, pillow, chair cushion, the towel hanging in the bathroom, the fuzzy rug.

"How do you like it?" Sarah appeared in front of my door.

"It's…nice, I guess," I finally decided, looked out the bay window. On the other side, there was a mini balcony with a table and some few chairs. She nodded, pleased with my answer, and walked downstairs.

"You're going to Goode High School tomorrow," she called from below, "so be prepared!"

My heart leapt with joy. This would be my only chance to make new friends! A normal life that isn't filled with crazy mischief! A time to be like a regular teenager! The chance to go to school! _You'll have to leave everything when you go back to London, _my mind reminded. _Don't get too comfy._

**So… I've heard that Rick Riordan finished the House of Hades already, and he just sent it to his editor! It's going to come out in September, but I think we will all be alive during that time :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for more! –Sophia**


	4. Chapter 4

**Percy Pov**

"Hey, man. What's up?" I passed Grover through the hallway.

"Nothing much. You?" he said, pausing in his steps.

"I have to go see Ms. Dodds. Most likely about my math grade." I sighed. "I'll see you later."

He nodded, as he turned around and started walking the opposite. "Good luck, Percy."

I headed over to the math classroom. Ms. Dodds, my least favorite teacher, was in there, correcting work sheets. I knew one of them was mine. When she saw me entering, she stopped correcting and sat there with her hands folded on her desk, waiting for me to approach. I handed her my pass.

"Percy, your math is definitely not improving," she looked me in the eye, definitely not pleased as she handed me back my worksheet. "This question is simple. You just have to find _P _by simply first starting with order of operations, then…" she went on and on, raving about how you need to do multiplication first, or something. My mind always mixes up _x's _and _+'s._

"So," Ms. Dodds concluded. "I just explained everything." She pointed her red pen at the question. _What is P when A is equal to 32 and R is equal to 3 in P + A - R + 16 x 15 + 12 = 302?_ "Now, can you tell me what _P_ is equal to?"

"Uh, well…" I tried to think, but all I could hear was the slight buzz of the heating. "You need to first do 15 x 12? Wait no…16 x 3?"

Her frown told me I was wrong. "Percy, I can't just explain every question to you. I'm basically doing your work! Just insert P in the equation! Do you know which goes first –multiplication or addition?"

"Addition. I mean, multiplication. So 15 + …no x…" my head ached as it tried to comprehend the _x's _and _+'s._ This question was too complicated. How could I figure out this problem? How can I insert _P_ in this situation if I can't even insert _A _and_ R_? "It's too hard."

"I will not take that for an answer. It isn't an excuse. You're going to need a new math tutor. I am tired of explaining every question for you. You need to figure out your own problem."

My math tutor right now explains everything so fast that I can't keep up with the steps of the formulas. My last tutor didn't do much but sit around and watch me stare down at my paper. My mom and dad are always too busy to teach me, and I never bother to ask.

I didn't want to irritate Ms. Dodds any more than I just did, so I did the safest thing. "Yes, ma'am."

"Let me see if I can find anyone…" she put on her glasses and flipped through her papers as I stood there uncomfortably. "How about…Malcolm? Wait, he's already tutoring someone else. I don't think he has time…"

It seemed like there was no one else. After 30 minutes of going through all the possible choices, we had nothing accomplished.

"I don't know what to tell you, Percy. You have to pass math. It's one of the most important subjects in life," Ms. Dodds said, putting her papers back in the drawers. She looked through her class list, double checking just in case she missed someone. She took off her glasses and looked at me sternly. "Well, we'll wait for now, but if you can't find a tutor until next week, we'll have a problem."

p~p~p~p

"How was it?" Grover asked me at lunch.

"Well, I have to find a tutor before next week." I explained everything to him, as he chewed on his enchiladas.

"Maybe you can find someone in my Nature Club," Grover suggested through a mouthful of cheese. Grover is a member of the Nature Club, and they learn about saving nature and those kinds of things. He's pushed me to go, but that would mean losing time for fishing.

I shook my head. "We already looked through everyone, including your Nature Club. Either they're already tutoring someone else, or they have no time."

"I'll tutor you," Conner offered. "2+2=4."

We sit with Conner, Travis, Beckendorf, Nico, Frank, Leo, Jason, and Michael. Clarisse, Katie, Thalia, Juniper, and Hazel sit at the table next to us, but for some reason Piper wasn't there today. I noticed because Jason kept glancing over his shoulders to the girl's table.

"Where's Piper?" Jason complained. He has a crush on her. She's in all my classes, so that's how I know her.

"I have no idea. Wait –didn't she volunteer with the others to show the new girl around, or something?" Frank remembered, knitting his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah! She mentioned that to me yesterday, how there was going to be a new girl. She volunteered to give her a tour today. Isn't she from Europe?" Jason questioned, looking around at us.

"London," I confirmed. "That's why Piper wasn't at fourth period."

"The new girl? Well, we all know here that I'm a free man," Leo joked, his mischievous smile growing wider.

"Well, you're probably still going to be a free man when you're 50," Nico joined in, as everyone else laughed. "Remember how you thought the new girl last time was going to be yours? Turned out she was a nose picking nerd. This one probably isn't going to be any better," he stated, as we all agreed.

"Hey guys! What was the homework for English again?" Silena slipped into an empty seat next to Beckendorf. They like each other, but Beckendorf hasn't given up the courage yet to ask her out. We pressure him, but he always says _maybe later. _

Beckendorf's cheeks colored. "I, uh –well, I think it's, um…"

"Just read do the first 5 pages of the packet you were assigned," Jason helped him.

"Oh, yes. Yes, I meant to say that. The first 5 pages of that packet," Beckendorf managed to snag his voice back.

"Thank you Charlie!" Silena winked at him as he blushed, while Jason had a _Oh, so I did nothing_ look.


	5. Chapter 5

**Annabeth Pov**

_Dream_

_Album: Story of Me_

_This all doesn't seem real_

_Are you an illusion?_

_I can't believe I'm here_

_Is this what it seems?  
Is this a _

_Dream_

_Oh, oh, oh yeah_

I stepped into the main office cautiously, looking around. I know, without my makeup no one could recognize me. But I was afraid someone would yell out, "Hey! It's ANNABETH CHASE!" and then everyone would chase me around and my trip would be ruined.

The main office was pretty big. It had a chairs surrounding a coffee table, with a few girls sitting there. I guess they were waiting in line for the front desk. I sat down and stared at the girl who was checking in. She had red curly hair with freckles splattered across her face.

"I came in late today because of my doctor's appointment," the girl said in a matter of fact voice.

"Alright, Rachel," the lady at the desk said. "Your teachers will be alerted."

Once it was my turn, I walked up to the front desk.

"Hello," the lady at the desk said. "How may I help you?"

"I'm Annabeth –the new student. Am I supposed to sign in here?" I asked, giving her a smile.

"Oh yes, Annabeth. Here we go," she said as she pulled out a manila folder. "I'm Ms. Hestia –nice to meet you! Alright, now…" she started taking out papers, and put them in front of me.

"Here is your schedule with your homeroom number and teacher." She went over everything with me, explaining the rules and showing me a map of the school. My homeroom number was 11, my locker number was 9, and I had choir for my elective. Wait…didn't I choose Architecture and Building? Sarah must've changed it. I made a mental note to bug her about it after school.

"I'll make sure your parents get emails of everything…Oh yes. Before I forget to ask you, do you have any tutoring abilities? I just got a call from the math teacher –we need a math tutor for one of our students. I know I shouldn't pressure you on your first day, but –"

"I'd love to! Math is my best subject," I spoke immediately, nodding.

"That's wonderful. Let me just notify Ms. Dodds…" she said while typing on her computer. "Alright. She will talk with you 8th period at the end of the day. Now… Piper has volunteered to show you around the building. You guys have 30 minutes," she gestured over to a girl who just came in. "I hope you enjoy Goode High School."

"Thank you so much," I breathed, taking the package of all my forms and heading towards the girl, Piper.

"Hi! Your name is Annabeth, right? I'm Piper –Piper Mclean. Nice to meet you!" Piper gave me a friendly smile. She had her hair braided to the side, and her eyes were…always changing different colors everytime the light shone down at a different angle.

"Mclean? Isn't your dad Tristan Mclean? I actually …" I stopped myself. I was just about to say that we worked in a movie together before. Me and my blabbering mouth. I cursed myself silently.

"Yeah, Tristan Mclean. It's really annoying that he's all famous and everyone is, like, crazy about him. You're actually the first person who didn't freak out about my dad," she stated, a relieved look on her face.

"Is that so?" I tried to act normally. "Well, I normally, um…" I tried to switch the topic. "Thanks for volunteering to show me around. Sorry that I'm taking you out of class now."

"Oh, don't worry. Everyone's having lunch now. But now, let's the start the tour," she opened the door as I followed her out the main office.

We walked around the school, as Piper explained everything. I was awestruck, but tried not to show it. If anyone found out who I really was, that wouldn't be good.

"Is there anything I should know about anyone here?" I asked, as we rounded a corner.

"Well, watch out for Drew and Rachel. They're the popular girls that are always looking for trouble. Other than that, I think you'll be fine."

"Who are your friends here?"

"Hazel, Thalia –those girls. And also, um, Jason." She blushed, and I could tell Jason probably wasn't just a friend. "Anyways. What do you have for your schedule?" she looked at my paper. "You're in all my classes! That's good."

I felt relieved that I found a friend. Somehow, as a normal girl, you can find more friends than being a celebrity. Go figure.

"Here is your locker," Piper showed me. "Number 9, right?"

"Whoa. My _own _locker?"

"I guess you guys didn't have lockers in London?" she questioned, looking confused.

"Oh, I mean, I –uh, didn't know that there were…lockers… in America!" I blurted, brushing my hair out of my face. I took out the paper that had my code on it. Good thing I knew how to open the locks. Piper would've been more suspicious.

"Okay. I'm going to head to 5th period, now, or else I'm going to be late. Hope you enjoy here –and nice meeting you!" Piper called, running down the hall as I waved.

I put the paper with my code in my pocket, and put everything else my locker. I kept my folder with my personal information on the top shelf. Sarah had told me to bring it, but I didn't see any use of it.

a~a~a~a

I stepped into the math room, walking over. Ms. Hestia had told me to come here for 8th period about tutoring someone.

"Yes?" the teacher (Mrs. Dodds, I think?) raised her eyebrows as I walked towards her. I must've flinched, because she immediately rolled her eyes. I wasn't used to being treated this way.

"Hi, I'm Annabeth. I'm here about the math tutor situation," I took out the manila folder and took out the paper.

Mrs. Dodds sighed, and read the paper. "So, you have experience?"

"Uh…yes, I do," I lied. Math is my strongest subject, and I did a movie with me as the tutor, so it counts, right?

"That's great. So now, if you could just –"

"Sorry, Ms. Dodds! Mr. D held us back a few minutes after the bell rang, and…" someone ran in, as I froze.

You know the feeling, when you can't even breathe? That's how I felt. I was speechless for a minute, my mind trying to take every single detail of him. His face was so flawless, tinted with a soft pink crawling up his cheeks, his tan skin like warm brown sugar, his black hair swept to the side, and…everything.

His green eyes shone as they paused on me. "I'm sorry I interrupted," he quickly apologized, averting his gaze and stepping back. Three long seconds passed.

"Well," Mrs. Dodds closed the loud silence, clearly annoyed. "You should have a pass, Mr. Jackson, but at any rate, this will be your math tutor. I really hope there will be improvement in your math. "

He held out his hand to me. "I'm Perseus Jackson. You can just call me Percy."

I shook his hand. "Annabeth Ch- I mean, you can just call me Annabeth," I blushed. Of course he could call me Annabeth. I don't know what was wrong with me. Usually, I wasn't like this. My voice was stuck in my throat.

The bell rang, and we walked out the door.

"So, what times are you available?" he asked me as we walked down the hallway.

I was just going to respond, but then, Rachel, the red headed girl I'd seen at the office, stormed up to Percy. "Percy, why did you HANG UP on me last night? I was…" he voice trailed away as she looked back and forth at us. Her attitude quickly changed.

"Are you the new girl? I'm Rachel. This is Percy, my _boyfriend_," she pulled him close to her. Her voice couldn't have made it any obvious about what she felt about me.

Trying to act as normal as I could, I swallowed my pride. "Yeah, I've met him. I'm Annabeth, Percy's math tutor."

She pouted. "Well, I'm sorry, but I need to borrow Percy for now," she pulled him to the other end of the hallway. I didn't have a choice but to accept it.

In the meantime, I felt so stupid. Of course he had a girlfriend. In most movies I've starred in, the girl bumps into the boy and drops her books. The boy helps her pick them up. They start to like each other. I guess life isn't like that. _You're going to have to leave anyway. Why bother caring, Annabeth? Just enjoy your time here, _I soothed myself. I took a deep breath, and went to my locker, with everyone else. Wow. Usually, I can't get anywhere without microphones and cameras getting shoved in my face. Big improvement. I turned my locker combination: 16 – 26 – 3…I opened it, packing my things.

"Hey!" Piper appeared at my side with a few other girls.

"Hi!" I gave them a friendly smile, as they waved politely.

"This is Annabeth," Piper introduced me to each of them. Hazel, Silena, Clarisse, Katie, Juniper, and Thalia.

"I love your hair!" Silena gushed, her eyes shining.

We talked for a few minutes, as I checked to make sure if I left anything. I patted my pockets –yup, my phone was there. But I still had that feeling that I lost or forgotten something. What was it? I checked my left pocket. It wasn't there.

Piper saw my expression. "Did you lose something?"

"The paper with my locker combination –it's gone," I looked in my bag, then rechecked all my pockets. "I must've dropped it somewhere."

"Do you still remember the combination?"

"Yeah, I memorized it already." I did – 16 – 26 – 3. Remembering things came easy to me.

Hazel exhaled. "That's good. It probably just fell somewhere –the janitor will probably pick it up and throw it away. Don't worry, as long as you remember your code."

As we walked out the door, I was still worried. What if someone found out who I really was?

**Okay, Chapter 5 already! I hope you guys liked it! Can't wait till summer –can't you? But anyways, please REVIEW :) It would mean so much! –Sophia**


	6. Chapter 6

**Percy Pov**

It turned out that Rachel really didn't have anything to say to me. She just wanted to get me away from Annabeth for some reason.

In my mind, I kept replaying back the scene when I ran into Mrs. Dodds room. Annabeth was there, her gray eyes shining bright at me. They were stormy, but beautiful. She definitely wasn't like the new girl last time. She didn't have all that gunk on her face like Rachel did…okay, I guess I was paying attention to her face…I couldn't help myself. Her skin glowed a faint aura, her blonde hair was in a simple ponytail, and her slim athletic body…

p~p~p~p

Three weeks passed, fast as a blink of an eye. Every other day after school, I would spend time with Annabeth –tutoring. We'd sit at the empty picnic tables near the beach, and after we'd go and take a walk.

"So, since A is 32, and R is 3, all you have to do is add it into the equation," she'd explain, gently taking the pencil from my hand and showing me how to do it.

She never got annoyed or frustrated when I didn't get it unlike my previous tutors –she'd just show me the answer, explain why, and give me a different example after.

"The answer is 21, because you first do 16 x 15, which is 240. Next…" she would write everything down for me, and then I'd finally understand it. For once, math was getting a little less impossible. My grade went from a D+ to a C-. A big improvement, at least for me.

"Do you want to go down to the beach for a little?" I asked her one day after we'd finished everything.

She glanced down at her watch. "I guess for a little –but then I need to go back home."

We walked for a while, then sat down on the sand. The sun was just going down, which made a beautiful view.

"So, how was your life in London?" I asked, trying to make small talk.

"Well," she paused, as she scooped a handful of sand and then let it run through her fingers. It looked like she was trying to figure out how to answer my question. "Crazy, I guess. Not much privacy, drama everywhere you go…"

Her cheeks flushed when she noticed I was staring at her. I blushed as well, looking away. "Well, I'm glad you moved here, so you can get away from all the drama forever," I tried to continue on.

"Not for long," Annabeth muttered so softly I wasn't sure if she said _not for long _or _snot for song. _I guessed it was the first option, because the second didn't make sense. I didn't know what she meant, so I just kept silent.

"Sorry, I'm just…I just can't believe I'm here," she managed a brave smile, and stood up, brushing sand off her pants. "I have to go now, because Sarah will be wondering where I am. Bye, Percy."

"Bye," I stood up as well. "See you tomorrow at school." I wondered why she was upset –my mind kept obsessing over it.

p~p~p~p

The next day, I decided to drop by her locker to see if she was there, but she wasn't. I guess she just went straight to her elective. I was just going to go head back to my locker, when Rachel grabbed my arm.

"Percy, why are you _here?_ Your locker isn't in this hallway!" Rachel demanded. Drew was at her side, smirking.

"Wow. Jason never does anything like this to me," Drew laughed. _That's because he has no clue you're dating him, _I thought.

"I was just, you know, trying to find Annabeth –I have a math question for her," I lied. Good thing Rachel bought that, because if she didn't, that wouldn't be too good. Though she believed my lie, she was still angry.

"You know _her_ locker number and you don't know _mine_?" Rachel looked offended. It didn't help that Drew was just standing there, giggling the whole time.

I scratched my head, and stammered, "Well, because 9 is a single digit number, and yours is what, 78, or something?"

She shot daggers through her eyes at me. "22. I think that's perfectly easy to remember. 9 and 22. I'm pretty sure you have space in your brain for the number 22."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm really busy these days."

"And you don't have time to remember the number 22?"

I know that if I argued with her, she would never stop talking. "Look, Rachel, I'm sorry, but this is about my grades. And the bell is about to ring and –"thankfully, the shrill sounding bell echoed through the halls. "Wow, look, I'm late. Bye, Rachel." I got out of her view without waiting for a response. Apparently, they both didn't have the nerve to follow me.

"Where you headed off to?" Jason passed me in the hallway.

"Gym. I hope I won't get in trouble for being late," I called over my shoulder.

"I'm sure Coach Nunley won't mind. He never does," he yelled.

Of course. All he ever does is make us run half a mile, then either let us play a basketball game, or dodgeball. He just sits on the bleachers reading magazines the entire time.

p~p~p~p

"Okay, everyone, separate into your own teams for dodgeball. Whoever gets out has to sit on the bleachers next to me. Go on," Coach Nunley sat down, as we divided our own groups.

For the first game, I didn't get out at all. Our team won, though Coach Nunley didn't care. He just waved at us to keep going. Right when the game just started, someone made a lucky shot and hit the ball straight in my face. Being a good role model for sportsmanship, I made my way towards the bleachers.

I looked over Coach Nunley's shoulder. He grunted, but didn't shoo me away. "Looks like Annabeth Chase is taking a break," he ventured, reading the paper. "Her boyfriend, Luke Castellan, is filling her in for now."

"That singer from England, or something?"

He pointed at her. "That's the one."

I looked at Annabeth Chase's smiling face on the magazine. I've never been a huge fan of her, but there was something about her that made me want to keep looking. The startling makeup? No. Her hair? No. Her eyes…? Um, no…"Wonder where she is," I skimmed through the article.

"Doesn't say. Oh well." He took a sip of coffee and sighed. "Teen celebrities –never know what they're hiding."

**:) :) :) Thank you for 45 followers! Every single one of you helped contribute, and it means a lot! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and there's more to come! –Sophia **


	7. Chapter 7

**Annabeth Pov**

_You Shine_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_You are beautiful, yes you_

_I look forward to seeing you everyday, yes you oh oh_

_Whenever I see you_

_Wherever you go, you shine_

_Shine for me baby, please _

"Annabeth, have you finished your album yet? You've been spending most of your time tutoring! Don't you know that you only have five weeks left?" Sarah looked sternly at me. "Make sure they're about Luke, because when you go back, you'll need to say at least _something _about him."

"I thought this was my vacation," I groaned, as I plopped on my bed. "Why can't I choose to be with someone of my own choice?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "This isn't a _real _vacation. It's your alone time. Anyways, Luke is for your own good. Someday you'll thank me." She stepped out of my room, making another phone call. Funny, she's been on the phone a lot lately.

I sat on my bed, thinking. Why do I _have_ to be with Luke? Then I wouldn't have to keep stressing about my feelings for…Percy. Immediately when I thought about him, my heart began pounding 1000 miles per hour.

_Stop it, _my mind told me. _You'll fall for him even more._

Do I like Percy? Um…I don't know. But it'll be harder for me to leave if I develop a crush on him. Plus, it'd be a harder relationship, and what would Sarah say?_ No boys, _she'd clearly emphasized.

I grabbed a piece of paper, and began to write: _You captivate me with your blue eyes_

Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I opened instagram on my iphone to read over the comments –I know, there are a lot of hateful comments, but I usually ignore them. Because the fans _should_ hate Annabeth Chase, and like the real one.

I scrolled down to a few old pictures I took a few months ago. I paused at the one of Luke and me hugging each other.

_You guys are so cute! _One comment wrote. _You are so pretty!_ Another wrote. I didn't even look that good in that picture. One of my eyes looked bigger, because that day I was in a rush and accidentally smudged my eyeliner.

But one of the comments caught my eye. It said: _I believe in true love. Nothing can hold it back, and that's what makes it so powerful. _It was short, but it meant a lot to me.

"Annabeth? Did you even start writing your last few songs?" Sarah's voice snapped me back. I guess she was done with her phone call.

"I'm getting started!" I called, quickly locking my phone and turning to my paper. Then I made a little change.

And from that moment, I decided that I believe in true love too.

a~a~a~a

"_Don't be afraid to show your feelings, oh whoah," _our choir sang.

"You have a beautiful voice," Hazel whispered as we sat down.

I blushed, hoping that I didn't project my voice that loudly. "Thanks, you too."

"No, mine's average. You should really become a singer," she smiled.

"Um, I'd rather not, really. It'd be tough, with all the pressure."

"Well, maybe. But it would be great to let everyone know who you are, and the amazing talent you have."

I never thought of being a singer that way. Sarah was always controlling everything, and I've never been able to do anything as Annabeth Chase without her going over the script with me. To Sarah, being a singer was only for everyone's entertainment. And money.

"Okay, that was good, everyone," our choir teacher, Mr. Apolllo, complimented. He was really tall, and was always making up new poems. _Music is poetry. They both have rhythm and a steady beat, _he says. I guess he's a pretty good teacher, though I already know most of the warm ups from vocal lessons.

"And now, our next game of Singing at Random!" he sang.

The game Singing at Random was a game that Mr. Apolllo made up. He would choose one of us to come up. Then, he'd choose one of the notecards at random that each had a different song, and ask you to sing it. The class rates you 1-10, and it counts as a quiz grade.

_Please don't choose me, please don't, _I begged silently. But of course, I got called. Just my luck.

"Annabeth! Now, what will you sing for us today?" Mr. Apolllo shuffled the cards, and closed his eyes. Choosing one in the middle, he looked at it and grinned. "Oh, this song was the preview of the album. Can anybody guess what it is?"

Immediately, my heart sank. Though I knew what it was, I didn't bother to raise my hand.

"Katie, how about you?" he asked her.

She smiled, and said it as though it was obvious. "_Be yourself_, by Annabeth Chase."

"Right! Perfect, because this song by Annabeth, is now going to be sung by Annabeth!" Mr. Apolllo laughed at his own corny joke. _Actually, this song by Annabeth is by me! _I wanted to say, but I held it in. "Okay, Annabeth. You can start when you're ready."

I walked to the front of the room. Taking a deep breath, I looked at all my classmates' faces. There were no roaring crowds, no screaming girls in the front row, no bright lights that blind your eyes when you look ahead.

"_Sometimes, I feel like my whole life is fake," _I started singing. "_'Cause everyone around me is always controlling me and my mind, but, I need to hold on tight. I need to straighten up. Everyone has to see, who I am, oh yeah._

_ "Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't_

_Just be yourself, oh_

_When the spotlight shines down on you_

_I hope you are yourself, oh_

_You don't need to pretend, no_

_Just be yourself."_

I was so into it, I didn't really realize until the second verse that I was dancing along with the beat. But I didn't stop.

"_Sometimes, I feel like I just need a break. Oh whoa oh oh. 'Cause everyone around me is watching me from every direction and angle, but, I need to be strong. I need to be exactly who I'm supposed to be. Everyone has to know, who I am, oh yeah._

_ "Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't_

_Just be yourself, oh_

_When the spotlight shines down on you_

_I hope you are yourself, oh_

_You don't need to pretend, no_

_Just be yourself._

_"I know that everyone has that something inside…you got to let it out, oh. I know you can glow, I know you can show, everyone who you are…_

_"Don't let anyone force you to be someone you aren't_

_Just gotta be yourself, oh_

_When the spotlight shines down on you_

_I hope you are yourself, oh oh oh oh_

_You don't need to pretend, no_

_Just be yourself." _I finished, and looked at everyone. I couldn't read any of their faces. _Oh no,_ I thought. I was such an idiot. I didn't realize that I just sang in Annabeth Chase's voice.

"Well," Mr. Apolllo said after a long moment. "How do you think Annabeth did?"

Everyone agreed on ten, while I stood there, cursing myself. "Annabeth, you sound like a natural. Uh, everyone here does," he added, "but you seem really comfortable on stage. Did you perform back in London?"

"Um –well, I sang in…a choir, so I guess I'm comfortable with…singing," I stammered.

He looked interested. "Really? I guess you guys performed a lot. Okay, thank you Annabeth. You can have a seat."

a~a~a~a

After Choir, everyone actually started to notice that I was alive.

"Your voice is so pretty!"

"It reminds me of someone…can't think of her now, but…"

"You look nice today!"

I suddenly wished I didn't sing fully out in my real voice. I didn't want to get noticed by everyone.

Soon, everyone knew me. At lunch, everyone was crowding around our table. "Hey, hey, everybody BE QUIET!" a voice came as a girl pushed through everyone. I immediately knew it was Drew. She was in my gym class, but never bothered to come up to me. She had pink eyeliner around her eyes, which made her expression startling. She wore so much makeup, she looked like a Barbie doll.

"Can I just talk with her for a second? Thanks, okay everybody BACK OFF. Goodbye! Go!" she shooed everyone away.

"Um, hi," I smiled uneasily at her, because when she turned to me, her expression said, _ew._

"Okay, whatever you are doing, STOP IT," she said all of a sudden.

I was really confused. "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb! You're dragging their attention away from me!"

Piper stepped up for me. "She's not dragging their attention away. All she did was sing. It's not anyone's fault that she has an amazing voice."

"Which she was hiding for the last few weeks, and then comes to throw it at me!" Drew retorted. She looked at me, and said threateningly, "Just make sure _I'm_ in the center of attention, here at Goode High School." Then she tossed her glossy hair and flounced away.

"Don't mind her. She's rich, so she thinks everyone should treat her like royalty," Hazel rolled her eyes. "All she has is a million dollar house, and a pool, and –"

"She got the Annabeth Chase signature collection _Breathless! _I wanted that for my birthday!" Silena added helpfully. I tried not to wince at my name.

"Drew and Rachel. They think they're so 'popular'," Thalia made little air quotations as she spoke, emphasizing popular.

"What is the definition of popular anyway?" Piper asked, between bites of peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

We all thought about it for a minute. Finally, Hazel said, "Many people like you. So, in a way, famous, right?"

I choked on my water that I was just swallowing. _Famous? Try taking my place. _

"Hey Annabeth. Um, do you want to tutor earlier today?" Percy came over. "I have time…are you okay?" he knitted his eyebrows, looking concerned.

I tried to stop coughing, but the water wouldn't allow me. Why now? "I'm fine," I wheezed, taking another sip of water to force it down. Unfortunately, that didn't work. Percy patted my back, until I finally stopped coughing. "Thanks," my cheeks reddened, as I glanced at everyone who was watching my embarrassing moment. Add a few cameras, and that'd just be perfect. If I had all my makeup on, this would be on all the magazines within a few minutes.

"I think that'd be great –do you want to do 3:00 today?" I broke the awkward loud silence.

"Yeah, sure. I'll…call you if there are any changes in my schedule," he ran his fingers through his hair, giving me that cute little smile, and turned back to go to his table.

Thalia raised her eyebrows. "So _you're_ the tutor my cousin has been talking about!"

"He's your…cousin?" I've already had a hard day, and now all the new information was hard to take in.

"She's also Jason's brother…not that it matters," Piper blushed. "But, yeah, Percy's her cousin."

"Oh," I nodded, then tried to change the subject. "School is over in…what, four weeks?"

Thalia's face lit up. "Oh yeah! We'll have lots of fun in the summer. No more homework, no more classes, just relaxing under the hot sun."

"Yeah. Just relaxing…" I tried to swallow my discomfort as I thought about all the things Sarah would have waiting for me in the summer.

**So, how was this chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I have a GREAT story planned out for you all :) Who's read the Son of Sobek? I think it came out sometime before, but I hear it has a preview of the House of Hades! Yay! Anyways, school is almost over (for most of us) and I hope you all have something fun planned for the summer! Please review, and once again, thank you for all the followers! -Sophia**


	8. Chapter 8

**Percy Pov**

We were sitting at the tables near the school soccer field. A gentle breeze ruffled Annabeth's hair as she quickly tucked a strand behind her ear, revealing her owl earrings. It was starting to get really hot these days, since summer was just arriving. The sun's rays danced around at all angles, really bringing out her eyes.

"Mrs. Dodds said I have to review all my geometry before I move on," I explained to Annabeth, who nodded as I showed her the worksheets.

Most of the time, I wasn't really paying attention. I was focused on the end, and how I would ask her. While she was talking, I was practicing what I would say. It was pretty hard to think about math while you're thinking about something else. "Why does a triangle have to be 180 degrees again?"

She rolled her eyes in a joking way. "13th time, already. It's because then it won't close. The angles have to all add up correctly for it to be a triangle."

"You really haven't been counting, have you?"

"Of course I have, Seaweed Brain!"

"Seaweed Brain? How am I a Seaweed Brain?" I pretended to look offended. "If I'm a Seaweed Brain, then you're…Wise Girl…?" my voice faltered as I realized how stupid that sounded.

She laughed, as we went back to geometry. "So, tell me what an isosceles triangle is."

I knew that one immediately. "Two of the sides are equal." It was kind of like _low tide, low tide, high tide._ Life can have high's, but you first have to get over the low's.

"That's good. Tell me how to find the area of a trapezoid. Use this example…"

Before I knew it, we reviewed all the shapes, surface area, and then went over a few more algebraic questions. I finished all my homework fast enough to have a few minutes of extra time. As she started packing her books, I forced out my courage.

"Um, Annabeth, do you maybe…want to go to the movies tonight? 6:00?"

She looked like she was about to say yes, but then she looked unsure. She cocked her head and knitted her eyebrows, as she stared at me with those stormy gray eyes. "What about Rachel?"

I'd totally forgotten about that. She still thought we were actually together. "We…broke up. Actually, we were really never together. But, if you don't want to, I under –"

"Percy, I'd love to." She gave me a sweet smile, as she shouldered her backpack. "I'll meet you there."

p~p~p~p

"Hello?" I picked up my phone on the marble kitchen countertop.

"Hi Percy!" Rachel's happy voice sprang out. Wow, I thought she'd start yelling at me after the 'locker number' thing. But she seemed pleased.

I sighed. "Rachel, this imaginary _thing_ we've had, is over. We never even had a _thing_ going on."

Rachel took the news well, which surprised me. Normally, she'd throw a fit, and never stop talking. The phone call would normally go all the way to four o'clock in the morning. But she simply said, "Fine. But just so you know, you should be careful with Annabeth. Your math tutor._"_

"What do you mean, be careful?"

"She's hiding something from you. Something that'll break your poor, little, fragile heart."

This made my anger bubble up. "Annabeth wouldn't do _anything_ to hurt _anyone_," I insisted, my voice cracking. "But you would. You're just jealous." I paused to take a breath. "And I am _not_ fragile." I know I sounded stubborn, but would Annabeth really do something to hurt someone? The idea just was insane.

Rachel laughed. "Me? No, I'm not jealous. I'm just…concerned."

"If you're so concerned, how about you tell me what that 'something' is?" My patience was slipping away, slowly lowering to three percent. I could imagine my brain beeping _low battery. Please charge. _

Apparently, Rachel pretended she didn't hear me, and decided to hang me off. "Bye, Percy."

There were a bunch of things that I wanted to yell into the phone, (though she already hung up) but I just punched end on my phone and sighed, then grabbed my fishing pole that was lying in the corner of the room. Fridays and Sundays were the days I helped my dad out.

Closing the door behind me, I started walking past the cafés and the candy shop my mom worked at. The smell of coffee and caramel wafted into my nose, soothing me and my temper. The sun's warm glow lit up the streets.

"Hi," I joined my dad, who had already caught at least twenty fish.

"Look at this beauty," my dad showed me a fish that was almost three feet long. "I think I'm going to let it swim freely," he decided, as he plopped it back into the ocean and watched as it waded around, then disappeared into a clump of lush seaweed.

"School's almost over," my dad reminded. "Ooh, that's a big one," he added, as I put the prize in the bucket. "What do you have planned for the summer?"

I thought about it. Preferably, I'd want to hang out with my friends, especially Annabeth. In the summer, we wouldn't have to spend our time tutoring.

"Be with my friends, I guess. Swim, play basketball, that kind of stuff," I answered.

He nodded. "Oh yeah, by the way, tell Thalia that I've already told your Uncle that we're coming over next week for dinner."

"I, ugh! I will," I told him, struggling to keep hold of one of the fish. It kept flipping around and tried to jump out of my hands. Water spewed out from the fish's mouth into my face, and it wouldn't stop dancing the hokey pokey. "Whoa! This fish, is really, crazy! Make it, stop!"

My dad laughed. "Hand it to me," he held out his hands. I had a lot of trouble giving it over, but when it reached my dad, it immediately calmed down. Literally. Its tail relaxed, slowly brushing up and down as if it were a paintbrush stroking a painting.

"How is it _not_ freaking out now?" I doused my hands in the crisp water, trying to get rid of the icky fish smell. The water was so blue, it looked artificial.

He grinned. "Magic."

That had been a joke since I was little. When I was five, I used to always ask, "How does the sun know how to get up and down?"

He'd always answer the same way. "Magic."

"Whoah! Really? That's sooo cool!"

"Yes, son. If you call Apollo driving his sun chariot magic, then yes."

Of course, I know that magic isn't the answer now to everything that seems impossible. Maybe.  
p~p~p~p

I got ready at five thirty, brushing my hair and putting on something suitable for a movie. A casual look…I don't why I was stressing about how I looked. Since when did that come into my life?

Five forty, I drove to the movie theater, and waited in the front. She wasn't there yet.

Five fifty. Still not there.

Five fifty five. Why wasn't she here? My head started pondering with questions, and I started to worry.

I called her number, but she didn't answer. It went straight to voice mail. _Hey, it's Annabeth. If you have any questions, please call the record company or contact Sarah. Thank you._ I was really confused. Record company? And who's Sarah? Maybe someone from London. But record company?

**I'd like to dedicate this chapter to everyone who has ever been lonely, or felt left out, because I know that's a terrible feeling, especially when you get kicked to the side by your best friend. I'm on your side :) Anyways, another chapter! And get ready for the next…I've been planning it for days! I promise it will be good and be filled with everything you guys have been looking for! (Well, hopefully) –Sophia **


	9. Chapter 9

**Annabeth Pov**

_The Truth_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_Can I really keep it all to myself?_

_I'm hiding my secrets, my mysteries, my life_

_From you you yo-ou-ou-ou_

_Try to find the truth_

"Sarah, I'm going to be late!" I groaned, frustrated. She'd been holding me back for the past twenty minutes.

"This is just a friend, right?" she asked, confirming what I'd said before.

My cheeks heated up. "Um, yes," I muttered. "Okay, I need to get going, now."

"We'll give you a ride," Sarah said, not really giving me a choice. She led me out in the front.

"Sarah. A limo?"

She laughed. "Of course!"

"I'm not going to the movies in a _limo_."

"Then you don't get a ride. And I'm sure you won't be able to walk there in, let's see. Three minutes," Sarah checked her watch and looked at me, waiting for me to give in.

I sighed, and got in. Sarah and I sat in the back, and Tom drove.

Few minutes later, we were on the highway. "Are you sure that this is the way there? I thought it was really close," I looked out at the passing cars.

Sarah suddenly got really interested in her nails. "Um, well. Actually, you have a…show at seven thirty," she shifted uneasily.

"WHAT?" I exploded. "You got me here in America just because you knew I'd never come here on tour? Only for _this_ show? Not because I needed a break?"

"Annabeth, calm down. You got to go to school. You got to live a normal life. It's just one show," Sarah tried to say, but I wouldn't listen.

"Sure," I muttered, "a normal life. That's why you were always on the phone? You kept pushing me to finish my songs? I thought I wasn't going to be _Annabeth Chase _for once."

The rest of the ride was quiet. I tried to look interested in the houses passing by, but there really weren't any on the highway. I looked at my watch. 6:23. Tom apparently got tired of the silence, and turned on his eighty's music. So, I was sitting on one side of the car, Sarah on the other, while listening to crazy music blaring. Real pleasant.

Finally, when we were there, I stormed out of the car. "Your dressing room is in the back," she called.

I opened the room and slammed the door behind me. Sure enough, my hair stylist and makeup artist were waiting there, along with my drummer, Tony, and Mike, who plays bass guitar. "You guys knew about this all along?" I grumbled. They all nodded sheepishly.

I could hear Cassie, the stage manager, adjusting her ear piece and yelling, "One hour! One hour till show time!"

Sarah came in, closing the door quietly behind her. "Annabeth," she tried to compromise with me, "I'm sorry, but –"

"I'm not going on stage," I stubbornly said, crossing my arms and not caring that everyone behind me was hearing us.

"Annabeth. You know that it's your job to do so. Your fans are waiting out there, and you could lose your chance for your album!"

"Well, you could've told me _before_," I mumbled.

"I'll give you a chance to cool down," she bent over the mirror to check her mascara, then walked out the door.

Tiffany, my makeup artist, gestured me over to come over to her. "What if someone you knew at school opened the door?" she asked. She had a point, so I sat down and let her start doing the works.

Someone knocked on the door. "Just go away Sarah!" I yelled, making Tiffany smudge my eyeliner. She clucked with disapproval, but I didn't care.

When the door opened, Luke came in with a bouquet of flowers. I was still impatient. "What are _you_ doing here?" I asked bitterly.

"Chill, Annabeth. Supposedly, I have to give these to you after you sing that song you wrote about me," Luke fidgeted in his suit that was too tight.

I suddenly sat straight up, knocking over a bottle of perfume. "What? But…I didn't write a song about you…I wrote it about…oh no, where is my phone?" I scrambled around barefoot, flipping over boxes and looking through bags. I had completely forgotten about Percy. He was probably still waiting for me.

"Out of all our problems, and you're worried about your phone? What is Sarah going to say when you sing a song that _isn't_ dedicated to me? And then I bring you flowers…" His phone beeped. He grunted and sat down on one of the chairs, his fingers running across the keypad. It was probably Kelli, this girl (or so he says) he's interested in. We both promised not to tell Sarah, and she still doesn't know. Yet. We both hope to keep it that way.

"Well, let me at least take one second to text someone!"

"You don't have a second!"

I groaned. "It wouldn't have been so complicated if you'd just stop complaining!"

"Who's the one who's complaining?" Luke shot back, not even looking up from his screen.

"Whoah whoah whoah, you guys sound like my parents," Mike interrupted. I turned around, and apparently forgotten that my crew was still here.

"You guys just…go and take a five minute break while I…" I looked around my dressing room, "get this mess fixed up." They gave me a thumbs up and padded out the door, eager to get out.

"Half hour! Thirty minutes till showtime!" Cassie yelled from behind the door. I could hear her say into her earpiece, "Backstage section five, we have a problem with the lighting…"

I sat on the pink cushion chair with the name Annabeth Chase stitched in. "This is all just a big mess," I moaned, reaching over for the makeup remover.

Luke finally put his phone back in his pocket. "Yeah," he agreed. "Do you think you can change the lyrics?"

I shook my head. "No. It wouldn't be the correct amount of syllables, and the rhythm wouldn't match up. And it's too late now to recompose the song."

"Are you sure?"

"I hope _not_."

He shrugged. "I guess you can just…skip the song that was supposed to be about me?"

"The record company wants to hear 6 songs. And three extra from my last album. Plus, Sarah would freak out if I missed that song. It's supposed to be the finale. She wanted this night to be interesting. She always wants my life to be _interesting_."

Surprisingly, Luke sat forward in his chair and smiled. "Well, you get up there and sing that song about…whoever. Just remember to be yourself. You have freedom. Make this your best dream, not your nightmare. You'll shine. Show them the truth. I'll just not show up, unless Sarah manages to snag me from back here."

I smiled thankfully at him. "Thanks, Luke. You know what? You're kind of the big brother I never wanted, but need," I told him.

"Thanks?"

Tiffany came into the room along with the hair stylist. "Tony and Mike are setting up onstage. We need to hurry, and…"

"Fifteen minutes! Fifteen minutes till show time!" Cassie bellowed.

"Yeah," she beckoned me over to the chair, then stared at Luke.

"What?" he asked, clearly confused.

I managed a giggle. "Uh, Luke, this is kind of my _dressing_ room."

"Oh. OH. OHHH. Sorry. Yeah, you go, um, dress." Luke skirted out the door.

a~a~a~a

It was intermission. So far, the show had gone great. Mike accidentally played e flat instead of e, but I didn't blame him. We never really got to practice.

My only problem. When I went to reach out to my fans in the front row, I saw Rachel. Since when was she interested in me? Or…Annabeth Chase? I made a mental note to myself to only reach out at the fans sitting on the left side of the first row.

"Annabeth, good job! Keep up the good work!" Sarah beamed.

I forced a smile –partially because Tiffany was redoing my lip liner, partially because I knew I was going to get in trouble at the end.

After all my makeup was done, I went out of my dressing room to find Luke. "Make sure Sarah doesn't push you onstage," I hissed.

Luke nodded. "Okay," he said. "But what if…?"

"Showtime! Everyone get to your places! Annabeth, you're on in 5, 4, 3, 2…" Cassie counted.

I stepped onstage. "Hey everyone!"

The crowd roared, people holding up banners for me to see.

After I finished singing the second to last song, I took a shaky breath.

"You ready?" Tony asked, his drumsticks positioned.

"Yeah," I nodded, and raised the microphone up to my mouth.

_"I met you_

_ Just on one normal day, oh,_

_ It was a fairytale,_

_ I hope you know_

_ That you are beautiful,"_

I paused, as Mike did his guitar solo. So far so good. I risked looking out the stage wings and saw Sarah grinning in the left wing. I took a deep breath and started on the chorus.

_"Get me with your sea green eyes_

_ Get me with your midnight hair_

_ I love the way you move_

_ I love the way you talk _

_ How you brush your fingers through your hair_

_ How you can take me anywhere_

_ Please know that you are beautiful," _I sang, then risked another look back. Sarah wasn't smiling this time.

"_You captivate me _

_ With your green eyes, oh,_

_ It was enchanting_

_ Amazing_

_ I was dreaming _

_ All night long, and I _

_ Hope you know…that you're beautiful, and you…"_

The crowd started singing the chorus along with me, getting the tune. Everyone was standing up and dancing. I winked at a five year old boy, who immediately started screaming, "Daddy! Daddy! Annabeth Chase has a cwush on me!"

"_You are beautiful,"_ I ended. "Thank you all, and…oh," I gulped. Luke stumbled onstage, sure enough with the flowers. The crowd screamed.

Thankfully, Luke had a brain and threw the bouquet out to one of the audience members, who caught it and started to freak out. Everyone around her started gathering around. I hope Luke cut off the tag, _to Annabeth._ That would just make life much easier.

"I love you San Francisco!" I yelled, then ran towards the right wing so Sarah wouldn't start screaming at me. Yet.

Unfortunately, she found me just as I stepped offstage. "Annabeth! Come here!"

"Sarah, I –"

Cassie saved me, and pulled me away. "Sarah, Annabeth needs to go to sign her CD's and autographs," she said, leading me down the stairs.

It was so hot in the room. I wished I'd changed out into a different costume.

A girl that was no more than 13 held out her hand and her CD. "Do you think you can?"

I nodded. "Of course! What's your name?"

"Emily."

"Okay, Emily. Here you go."

The line went on and on.

But it seemed like it froze when Rachel held out a t-shirt and CD.

"Can you sign this for me?"

"Uh, of course Ra –what's your name?" I tried not to make eye contact with her.

"Rachel."

I signed her shirt and CD. "Here you go Rachel."

After I signed at least more than a thousand items, (including someone's socks, which wasn't that pleasant) I headed back to my dressing room.

Sarah was in there waiting for me.

"Um, hi." I sat down and took a water bottle from the cabinet.

"Annabeth, I am up to fire with you. Who did you even write about?"

I blushed. "Um…well…"

"Whoever it is, he doesn't matter anymore. We're leaving next week instead."

I bit my lip to stop myself from crying. "Okay," I whispered.

**How was it? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and there'll be more to come! Please review! –Sophia **


	10. Chapter 10

**Percy Pov**

The ocean was calm today, and the clouds were gray and puffy, like a storm was going to come. Just a normal Monday morning. I decided to come before school today, since I needed to simmer down.

"Hey," Annabeth panted, stopping at me.

"Um, hi," I muttered. I don't know why I wasn't walking away. I was supposed to be mad. Angry. Hurt. But for some reason, I stayed.

"I just wanted to say, I am _so_ sorry about last night. I mean, of course you don't want to hear that I'm sorry, but…" she paused, then stared at me. "It was kind of an emergency."

My heart softened. "What happened?"

She looked away and wouldn't meet my eyes. "I, um, just found out that I'm moving. Actually, on Tuesday. In the morning."

I felt like I had just been kicked in the stomach. "What? But you just moved here." My throat was dry.

She smiled sympathetically. I couldn't even believe she was taking this so calmly, like she knew it was going to happen. "Yeah. My –stepmom found a job again back in…London."

"Oh. Well, we can still…contact each other, right? I mean, long distance…relationships are still relationships," I blushed, embarrassed by the fact that I had the nerve to say relationship. She didn't say anything about it, though.

"It's…kind of different. In London, I'll probably be…busier. Things won't be the same. I mean, I'm not sure if we can really contact each other, especially since Sa –never mind." She took a deep breath, like she was debating on whether or not to tell me. "My point is, this is kind of my only chance to talk to you _privately_, and say goodbye. Now." I could tell she was trying to hold back her tears.

"Oh." My voice cracked. "Like, now? Like, I'll…never see you again today after school? Never talk to you again?"

"You'll see me again. Just…not the way you would want." I didn't know what she meant, but I didn't have the chance to ask her. She stepped forward, gave me a hug, and then said, "I guess this is it…so…bye." I could her the loud crunch of the sand as she walked away.

That left me alone, just me and the sea. And a few angry crabs scuttling around.

p~p~p~p

"Okay, everyone. I'm your gym substitute for today. Today we will be mixing the gym classes with the other period four class. We will be playing a lacrosse game with them," Mr. Brunner explained in his wheelchair. How a teacher in a wheelchair could be the sub for gym, I have no clue. But I was pretty good at lacrosse.

"Yes! Finally, no dodgeball!" Leo yelled in triumph.

Mr. Brunner split us into two groups, red team and blue. I was on the red team. The period four class started heading to the field, as we followed behind.

Rachel was on my team, and Annabeth was on the other. When I needed to talk to her the most. Just my luck. A typical Monday.

We were losing. One of the reasons was because whenever I got the ball, Rachel kept calling, "Percy! Percy! Over here! I'm open! Percy!" That included her waving her stick in my face, nearly hitting my head. I never passed it to her, though most of the times I should've.

Another problem was because we had all the "Aphrodite Girls" on our team. They're a group of girls who are basically the gossipers. Leo made that name up, so we all go along with it. They were all standing at the end, pretending to be defense and not paying attention to the goal. I heard, "Oh Em Gee! Did you hear he asked me out?" or "It's so hot! The heat is washing off my potpourri perfume! I need to reapply it, and it's all the way in my _gym locker_!"

The last reason was because I kept staring at Annabeth, who looked beautiful even in her gym jersey and shorts. Her light skin tinted with gold was illuminating and casting a soft glow, her hair in a simple high ponytail that showed off…everything. I didn't even notice that the ball was only three inches from me until Annabeth came running towards me…I mean, the ball.

"Come _on_ Percy!" Clarisse barked, obviously annoyed that she was on the losing side.

I cradled my lacrosse stick, and the next thing I knew, we were both fighting for the ball. I let her have it, finally, because it was always either me or her knocking it farther away, and the game would never end.

"The score is five to one," Mr. Brunner notified us. "Team Blue is in the lead."

Annabeth scored another goal. Cheers erupted from her side, as the red team groaned with frustration.

"Six to one," he updated.

I focused harder. My eyes watched as the ball flew from every direction.

Beckendorf ran after the ball, scooping it up and catching it. He cradled his stick, giving me a quick glance. I gave a slight nod. He locked eyes with Leo, who seemed to get the message. "Leo!" He yelled, but tossed it in my direction. There was a movement of confusion, as the blue team members ran toward Leo, only to find he had nothing. I caught it as it landed with a victorious thump. No time to admire that. I quickly threw it in the goal, the goalie missing it by two feet.

"Six to two," Mr. Brunner looked pleased.

We slowed down a bit, after Jason accidentally threw the ball to Piper, but then we caught up with a 'few' obstacles. Like Rachel whining, "I never got the ball!" And wailing about how she got mud on her shorts. Oh yeah, and then insisting on going to the nurse since she felt 'queasy', so Mr. Brunner had to take her there, because he thought she was going to faint or something. Later, when she came back, she got to sit out on the field. Then I got hit in the arm with Drew's lacrosse stick. It hurt. A lot.

The final score was seven to five, blue winning.

I wanted to talk to Annabeth after the game, but she was busy talking with Piper, Thalia and Hazel. I really didn't want to interrupt, especially in front of my cousin, so I decided to talk to her another time.

Period five. Science. We were partners for the worksheet.

"So, what did you get for number eight? I got **A**," she told me, as I looked at my paper.

"Uh, yeah, I got that too," I marked my paper. "Can I, um, tell you something?"

As if right on cue, Mr. D came walking by. "I hope you are all working!" He stared hard at me. "Especially you, Peter John."

"Um, it's –"

"Whatever! I couldn't care less. Stop wasting time now!"

I didn't have the heart to argue with him, so I continued on. "I got **C** for number nine."

"So did I." She checked to make sure Mr. D wasn't listening. He had walked on to the lab bench behind us. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

The bell rung, and everyone shuffled out the door, Mr. D yelling, "If you didn't finish, it's for homework!"

Period six. English. We had to share our poetry.

"And that is who I am," she finished, then sighed. "It is so hot in here!"

"I know," I huffed, fanning myself. "They should really have **a**ir **c**onditioning in the rooms, not only the hallways."

She nodded. "Back in London, actually, there wasn't _any_ air conditioning in my dressing room. And I'd be in my _costume_," she trailed off.

"Costume? Did you do theater, or…"

"Oh! I mean, yeah! Yes, yeah. I was in…the drama club!"

"So, since you're moving back, are you going to join the drama club again?"

"Yeah. I'd have to join anyway…I can't really quit. I already…have a part in the play. It's my job. I need to keep on going."

"Right." I thought of how I was going to tell her. "So…"

_ RIIING! _Our teacher sighed as she got up to get the phone.

"Hello?" There were a lot of yeses and mm-hm's and okays. Finally, she called, "Annabeth? You need to go down to the office."

Annabeth politely excused herself, packed her books, and left.

So I never got the chance to talk to her.

**So…how was it? You guys were probably wondering, why is the A and C bolded? Well, because A is Annabeth, and C is Chase. I'm sorry if you guys didn't understand :) Thank you for all the reviews! Oh gosh, I mean, 34?! I was only expecting 10! Thank you thank you thank you! And the followers too! And school is almost over! Yay! Okay, I'll stop now. But thank you! –Sophia **


	11. Chapter 11

_Trapped_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_How is this going to turn out, oh_

_When I need you the most, you turn away_

_I can't keep it up forever, ever, ever_

_Can't say anything to you_

_I'm stuck in a maze, and I'm trapped_

"Your stepmom told me to tell you that she's going to be here in ten minutes, so get ready," Ms. Hestia informed me.

"Okay. I'll go to my locker, and pack," I quickly ran out to the hallway, and spun my code. I placed everything in my bag, and stepped back, examining my locker to see if I'd left anything. It didn't seem like I did…

"Annabeth?"

I sighed and turned around. "What is it Rachel?"

She looked behind her to make sure no one was listening, and then rolled her eyes. "Seriously? What is it? Well, Annabeth _Chase, _how about you tell me?"

My heart almost leapt out of my throat. "What?" I choked out.

"Well, look what I found in the hallway. Weeks ago." She smirked as she pulled out a slip of paper. _Locker 9. 16 – 26 – 3._ Then she took out the folder that had all my personal information. "Annabeth Chase. Your birth certificate right over here –born in London, December 18th, 1995 at 9:54. Isn't that the exact same time as the _real_ Annabeth?"

My throat tightened up, trapping my voice.

"Is that why at choir you drew everyone's attention away? Why you didn't show up at the movies with Percy? And yes, I saw him waiting alone and checking his watch. I saw you at that little show of yours. Don't deny it." Rachel glared at me. "You've been setting all of us up. You're probably only here to get attention, or to get on the front page like you usually are. Pretending to be a sweet innocent girl. First hiding your identity, then throwing it back at us! I'll tell Goode High School. I'm going to report you, and now _everyone_ in the world will know what a fraud you are!"

With that, my voice came back. "I am _not_ doing this for attention! That's the craziest –"

"So you admit you are Annabeth Chase, huh?"

"No! I –"

"And you've been playing with Percy the whole time, knowing that you'll have to break his heart, right?"

"What? Of course not!"

"Oh, that's probably one of your lines in your 'script'. I'm trying to save Percy here," Rachel rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is, I'm not buying it. You are Annabeth Chase and you know it. Stop pretending!"

My heart was panicking. You know that feeling when you go down a really steep hill on a roller coaster? That's how my stomach felt. Rachel knew already –there was no use lying to her.

"Please don't tell anyone," I begged.

She raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow. "Why not? The famous _Annabeth Chase_ –"

"Shhhhh!" I looked around desperately.

She just smiled, and said, "Well, maybe I won't. Maybe I will."

"If you care so much, why don't you just make up your mind and tell everyone, then?"

She stopped, searching her head for the right words. Then she cocked her head. "You're right. Maybe I should."

"Rachel, no one's going to even believe…oh yeah…" I stared at the folder. "Don't. Please."

"Why? Besides, you always want attention, right?"

"That's not who I really am!" I slammed my locker door shut.

I started heading back to the office, but Rachel kept following me like she wanted more. "Wow. I'm seeing everything that everyone is dying to see. Annabeth Chase without makeup! Annabeth Chase without her bodyguard! Annabeth Chase without…Luke Castellan, her –I mean your, _boyfriend_. How will Percy feel?"

I gritted my teeth. Now I was really frustrated. I stopped at the main entrance. "Rachel, Percy is already yours. Okay? And stop trying to judge me from the illustration on the cover. Maybe you should open the book and read how my life really is."

The bell rang, which Rachel flinched at. "Whatever. Just wait till everyone finds out." And then she flipped her hair and walked away.

a~a~a~a

I sat on my bed, flipping over my _World_ _Glories _book. Page 102.

Sarah finally came in, and sighed. "Annabeth, I'm sorry for freaking out about the show, but…I didn't expect you to –"

"Rewrite the script and direct my _own_ life? I understand," I said, without looking up. I pretended to read the description of the Parthenon, since I'd already memorized it.

She sat on my bed next to me. "Well, that's kind of not the way I thought about it, but okay."

I tried to brush away the tears, but it was no use. They came flowing nonstop. "I just wish there could be one day to being normal. But, that's impossible now. I barely get away with what I accidentally say to anyone here. It's too late now –I'm already _abnormal_. I can't change that."

"Do you really want to become _normal_?"

"Yes."

"Think about how it would be –"

"It would be just the opposite."

Sarah took a deep breath, trying to contain her temper. "Fine, then. Do you want to stay for a few more days?"

"I can't," I said miserably. "Someone found out."

"Found out about what?"

"Who I am. Can't you see? My secrets always leak out. I have an unsteady life. That's why I want to become an architect. I want to build something that is balanced, steady, and will last forever," I closed my book, and plucked a tissue out of the tissue box.

She started to say something, but Tom stepped into my room. "You know, of all the years I've worked for you two, I don't think it's being famous that makes Ms –I mean, Annabeth, upset. I think it's because she feels pressured by everyone because of the things that she has to do –like being with Luke, or how everyone else controls her life," he stated. Wow. That was probably the smartest thing he's ever said. Usually all he really does is read the newspaper (which I'm on most of them) and listen to his opera music or whatever. Oh, right, and work for me.

Sarah seemed to take a long time to register what he said. "I guess I have been a little…too focused on you," she admitted. "And I know that since you're famous, you'll be known even if you end your singing and acting career."

"I'll have to be that kind of girl forever," I groaned. "The one who is obsessed with getting on the front page."

"I probably should've let you live your life freely," Sarah looked at her hands. "I guess I was so into it, that…I convinced myself that I was in charge. Not only your manager, but in charge of your life. I'm sorry."

"If you can twist everyone's minds and make them forget about who Annabeth Chase, the dumb silly blonde girl, that would be great," I muttered. "Then I can start new."

"Well, I think I have an idea," Sarah thought for a second. "Hopefully it'll work. Anyways, from now on –this is really hard for me to say. But, I promise I won't make you do anything you aren't comfortable with."

"It's kind of too late, now," I sighed. "Goode High School probably already knows, and they'll report me. I'll be on all the magazines within a few hours –or minutes."

Sarah's phone rang. "Hello?" _Here goes nothing_, I thought. Sarah listened for a long time, then finally said, "You can't push the date any further?"

After a few minutes, she nodded, and said, "Okay. We'll be ready. Thank you," and hung up.

"What is it?" I asked, my heart pounding.

"We have to get the private jet ready right away," Sarah ordered, and Tom hurried out. She turned to me, and said, "I'm sorry honey, but the record company changed the deadline to tomorrow afternoon. Plus you have a few interviews on your new album. If we want to get there in time, we'll have to leave now."

"Wait –but, I need to…" my heart sank. How would I explain to Percy if he found out? I'd be gone, and he'd hate me forever. And what about Piper, or Hazel…and everyone? They'd think I betrayed them. "I have to talk to my friends!"

"I promise we'll do something," Sarah called from her room. "Start packing!"

On the jet, I checked the latest magazines and newspapers. Then twitter. Then facebook. Lastly, instagram. Not one mentioned a single word about me. Why didn't Rachel tell anyone? Was she keeping the secret for a reason? Was she just pressuring me?

When we were back in London, I rechecked again. Nothing. I felt relieved, but some part of me felt like something was wrong.

**Here's your chapter! I've got a few ideas planned for later –don't worry, the story isn't going to end yet. There will be at least 6-10 chapters unless my story drives off the road. But anyway…OH MY GODS! I saw the House of Hades cover! I won't spoil anything, but…continuing on, I'm sorry that I haven't been working on it lately –finals and all. :) :D :P–Sophia **


	12. Chapter 12

**Percy Pov**

"May I have your attention please," the loudspeaker blared. "There will be seven students who will be chosen to take a trip to London for two weeks. They will be listed outside the cafeteria after eighth period. These seven students will be leaving next week on Monday. Permission slips are due by Friday, the day after tomorrow. See Ms. Hestia for questions."

"Nice," Leo nudged me. "Hope I get chosen. Then I'd be at London relaxing while you guys do work."

"I have just as much of a chance as you do," I reminded him. I didn't say anything, but I really wanted to be chosen. Not just to miss school, but to possibly see Annabeth again. I visited her house last night (it was _huge_), but she was already gone. They were probably in a rush to leave.

p~p~p~p

After eighth period, I rushed off over to the cafeteria, accidentally bumping into Juniper.

"Hey!" she complained.

"Sorry!" I called over my shoulder, then spotted the white paper that was taped to the wall.

A little crowd was already forming around the list. I squeezed through a space and scanned the list. _Jason Grace, Piper Mclean, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Leo Valdez, Nico di Angelo, Charles Beckendorf. _What? I read through the names over. That couldn't be right. I counted, hoping there were only six names. Seven. My heart immediately sank. What did I expect anyway?

Two people pushed through, shoving me into a bulletin board. "Scuse me, MOVE everyone," a voice sharply spoke. Of course it was Rachel, with Drew scooting along.

I could see her eyes narrow into slits the size of snake eyes as they moved down the page.

"Did we get chosen? Let me see," Drew said.

Rachel didn't move. "WHAT? That can't be!" she checked again. "We didn't get chosen. It must have been a mistake. I'm going down to Ms. Hestia right now. She'll probably bump someone off the list," she said simply, like she knew the future.

Jason suddenly appeared next to me, reading the list. I could see his eyes light up as he saw Piper's name.

"Congratulations, Jason," I clapped him on the back, trying to contain my jealousy. I didn't want to be jealous of my best friend, but I was so disappointed, I couldn't help but feel a tingle of annoyance.

He must've heard it in my voice. "I'm sorry you didn't get picked," he gave me a look of sympathy. "Maybe you can talk to Ms. Hestia."

"Like Rachel and Drew? I think I'm just going to move on with life," I said, as he laughed.

"That's good." He checked his watch. "I'm supposed to meet Piper at the bench outside. See you."

p~p~p~p

On Wednesday during homeroom, the loudspeaker echoed, "Will Charles Beckendorf and Nico di Angelo please report to the office. Thank you." It ended with a series of crackling and popping.

The bell rang, in which everyone immediately picked up their books and binders, and started walking out of the classroom. Rachel leaped over to me, making me drop my folder.

"Percy! Guess what?"

"_What_?" I groaned as I dropped down to pick up the papers that slipped out.

"No, you have to guess!"

There was no use to argue with her, so I said lamely, "You got a new designer handbag. From Coach. Or…Kate Jade."

"Kate _Spade_, you mean. Nope. Well, I did yesterday actually, but that wasn't the answer I was looking for. Ms. Hestia told me to give this to you." She took out a tan slip of paper and held it out for me to see. I read the top.

_Permission Slip for London_

I stopped in my tracks. "I thought only seven were allowed."

"I know! But my father paid extra so you and I can go together! They'll just bump off two other people." She said it like it was no big deal.

"What? But that's not fair…" my voice trailed off. I tried to think of a way to be politer, since her dad _had_ paid extra.

"We are going to have so much fun! I have it planned all out!"

I had trouble swallowing, and tried to resist the urge to shrug her arm off my shoulders as I took the paper. "Um, okay. Thanks."

"I'll text you the details," she skipped off, pulling out her sequin studded phone.

I sat next to Beckendorf and Nico during science. "Hey, guys. I'm sorry about you guys getting bumped off because of me. And Rachel."

"Don't sweat it," Nico said. "I'm going back to New York to visit the week after that anyway."

He moved to San Francisco last year. Said his dad told him to come here, but he switches from here to New York often.

"Besides, Silena isn't going," Beckendorf added.

"I don't deserve to go," I sighed.

"But you _all_ deserve detentions," a silky voice said behind us. Of course, the one and only Mr. D. He happily filled out 3 detention slips and handed them to us, as we took them reluctantly.

"No talking –the bell already rung. Especially you two." He fixed his eyes on Beckendorf and Nico. "Chris and Nick. You both must've been kicked off the list because of your behavior."

They made no effort to correct him. I had to strain myself from yelling at Mr. D.

Detention was doing work, work, and work.

"Okay everyone. I'm Mr. Mars…" he wrote his name on the chalkboard with so much force, it snapped in half. "Do your homework. When you're finished, come up to my desk to get this fifteen page packet. And then this worksheet. Oh yes, here is another ten page packet that Mrs. Dodds dropped off earlier. I suggest you get started."

When I finished my Spanish homework, I went up to his desk.

"Yes?" Mr. Mars looked up lazily as he filed his fingernails with scissors.

"Er, you told us to come up here to get more work," I reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Right." He handed me the packets and the worksheet.

I decided to first do the math packet. All of the _a's _reminded me of Annabeth. I could practically smell her faint scent of lilac and sage. Not Rachel's expensive perfume that was so strong you could probably smell it a mile away.

After about, like, a hundred questions, my brain was filled with letters and numbers. It didn't help that we were learning the Periodic Table of Elements. We had to match the abbreviations with the names. H –hydrogen. Mn –manganese. **Ac** –Actinium. That was my favorite. It sounded…right. Actinium, the radioactive element discovered in 1899.

Finally, I finished. I went up to Mr. Mars, who was now filing his toenails.

"Done?" He smirked, without even looking up.

"Yeah."

He skimmed through the packets quickly and barely glanced at the science worksheet. Then he threw them away. So much for doing those. "You can leave now," he dismissed, as he leaned back on his chair.

**Done! Finally! I know a lot of you guys always ignore this part at the bottom, but I think the song "Hurricane" by Bridgit Mendler reminds me a lot of Percy. If you want, you can listen to it :) Especially the bridge. I don't know if you guys will like it, but I think it's a catchy song! Take care –Sophia **


	13. Chapter 13

**Annabeth Pov**

_The Story of Me_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_You need to know the story of me, oh oh_

_The story of me, oh oh_

_You have to see what I mean, oh oh_

_Not only what it seems, oh oh_

_Oh_

_Good luck figuring out_

_The Story of Me_

"Here I am with the gorgeous Annabeth Chase, live! So, what's your new album called?" the reporter held the microphone for me.

"It's called The Story of Me," I said into it, my voice vibrant.

"Are you excited? You're going to be going on tour, meeting new fans, performing…"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll enjoy everything," I tried to sound enthusiastic. "I can't wait!"

"So, any sneak peeks on your album? The songs? Any hints on who they're about?"

I blushed. Thank goodness Tiffany applied peach blush instead of rose. Or else I would've looked like a clown. "Well, I guess you guys will have to figure it out yourselves! But I have to admit, this album has more snapshots of my life than my last one."

She laughed. "You sold more than two million copies of your last album –let's wish for the best for this one."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed."

a~a~a~a

"Now, 60 seconds with Annabeth Chase!"

I've been on so many radio stations, I've lost track which one I was on now.

"The Story of Me is basically my story –challenges that I've faced, the triumphs I've experienced, and the wonderful moments in life. I think everyone has a story to tell –the real story, not the fake one that everyone judges from your appearance, or from the past. Our life is a story, not a fairytale, which everyone should realize." _Like Rachel_, I thought, as I took a breath.

"All the songs unveil the story of me. Many of the songs in this album are probably my favorite compositions, and I've written them to relate and share all our feelings. I think all of us can share our stories and become closer. Come and tell _your_ story. Go to the link that's been posted on the website _right now_ and let your radio station know the story of _you_!"

a~a~a~a

"Her ankle." Dave, the photographer pointed.

"What?" I was really confused.

"It's in the way. Move it a little to the right. I mean, your left. That's a little too much. Move it back a tiny bit. Now move it in the front. No, hon, that's too much. Back, back, back, good. Now, a little to your left…"

2:00 in the afternoon, and I still haven't rested since 6:30 in the morning.

"Hair." Dave gestured me to tuck it behind my ear. "Okay, now. Stay positioned…" He snapped a few pictures.

My pose was really hard to hold. Somehow, I managed to look like how I was supposed to. This one was me picking off petals of a flower, like _he loves me, he loves me not_. There were at least a thousand petals on the floor now. Next, it was me blowing dandelion seeds. I don't have to tell you how many times Tom had to go and get more. My last one was me twirling –that one took forever. My hair kept flying in my face.

Later, I had to pose for CoverGirl. I was getting tired of hearing:

"Wait! You forgot the primer!"

"Pass me the lipstick in Coquette, 375."

"Hold still. Stop blinking!"

"Hand me the makeup remover."

I really should've eaten before I put my lipstick on.

"Can I at least have some juice, or an apple, or something?" I asked Sarah as she passed by.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Those will stain your teeth, Annabeth. Seriously. You're going to be on a _magazine_."

"You better let me _announce_ that Luke and I are over at the show tomorrow night, then."

She took a long time to answer. "…Okay, then. But…you can't date a regular guy. How about…Cody Simpson?"

I stared at her. "Um, no thanks."

"Zac Efron? He's cute –"

"To you."

"How about any of those guys from –"

"Sarah. I really don't want to –"

She put her hands on her hips. "Why? Saving your heart for someone else?"

I looked at the ground, and suddenly became interested on a little scratch. 2 centimeters, with a slight curve. "Of course not."

"Well, if you're single, no one's going to care that much about you anymore. We'll talk about this later." She cleared her throat and looked around. "I'm going on a lunch break. You wait here. I'll be back in half an hour."

Way to say that in front of me.

Oh yeah, and as if right on cue, Tom entered the door eating a bag of Doritos. I looked in the dressing room mirror, trying not to hear the loud crunch of him eating.

"Back to being Annabeth Chase," I muttered.

**Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and stay tuned for more! –Sophia **


	14. Chapter 14

**Percy Pov**

When we arrived in London, I regretted bringing in the permission slip.

"Tomorrow we'll be going to a gourmet restaurant for dinner!" Rachel informed me. "Good thing the Annabeth Chase concert got rescheduled to tomorrow. It was supposed to be going on last week, but she had so many interviews, it got moved."

"Looks like you're a huge fan of her," I struggled with my suitcase zipper.

"I think _you're_ a huge fan of her," her voice had a sharp edge to it. I stopped fidgeting with my suitcase and stared at her.

"Annabeth Chase? I have no idea who she is. Well, a singer and actress, but that's it."

After a moment, she finally said, "Never mind. We'll go to the concert together, just you and me. It'll be great!"

I gulped. "Can, you know, Leo, or Frank, come with us or something?" I really didn't like the sound of _just you and me_.

"Percy, then it wouldn't be the same. Besides, I have more scheduled. We're going to the art museum on Wednesday…"

I really didn't want to do all these things with her, but I felt like I was forced, especially since her dad paid extra for me. And I really didn't want her to explode, and then call her daddy. That wouldn't be too good.

She kept bringing the topic to the Annabeth Chase concert, which I was really getting annoyed of. She was so obsessed for some reason –and I'm pretty sure she wasn't two months ago. I felt like she expected me to know everything about her.

"Did you know she's been dating Luke Castellan for, like, almost four years? They're probably never going to break up! They are, like the cutest couple ever, right?"

I was just like _uh huh_, and _yeah_, the whole time as we were on our way to our hotel.

"Can I just have, you know, Friday off, or something?" I jumped in after she finished talking about how Annabeth Chase was this, and that.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Well, Jason, Frank, Leo, and I planned on going somewhere to hangout," I lied. Jason would probably be with Piper the whole time, and same with Frank and Hazel. Leo…I have no idea. But I wanted to find Annabeth –the one I knew, not the Annabeth _Chase_. Maybe I'd be able to. I didn't want to be like a stalker, but she'd disappeared so quickly it was unusual. Also, I really don't want Rachel to drag me to every designer store in the mall and then make me hold her bags for her. Like Kate Jade. Or Spade. Same difference.

"Okay, then," Rachel placed her hands in her lap. "But still, I can't _wait_ for the concert!"

"Me too," I said, hoping my sarcasm wouldn't show.

"Did you know that Annabeth Chase came over to San Francisco for a concert?"

"Nope," I answered, only half listening.

"Well, she did. Oh my gosh! Wait…" she dug around her purse, and exhaled as she revealed a bottle of perfume. "Thank goodness! I thought I forgot it!"

"It's perfume," I said. I thought it would be her phone, or wallet, but no. Just a mini bottle of perfume with a little pink bow.

"It's Annabeth Chase's _Breathless_! perfume," she corrected me. Rachel sprayed some on her. It smelled familiar, like lilac and sage…

When we got to the hotel, I was shocked. It was the fanciest one I'd ever seen. In the lobby, it was even more grand and magnificent. The diamond chandeliers made Rachel's rhinestone phone look like a speck of dirt. I could see my reflection in the polished floor. There was a coffee bar in the corner of the room. Velvet sofas surrounded an oval table.

"Sweet," Leo murmured. "But I think Bufurd is better."

"Bufurd?" A man with a scruffy beard walked over.

"That's his table," Jason explained. "He has a thing for naming his furniture."

"Oh, I see," the man nodded at us. "I'm the hotel manager."

"This place is so…" I couldn't find the right word.

"It is," the manager agreed without waiting for me to finish. "All of the celebrities usually choose this place –and…are you a band?" he looked at all of us, eyeing our suitcases.

"School trip," Piper told him.

"Ah. Rich school."

"Actually, my father mostly helped them pay for this," Rachel butted in.

"Is that so? I –"His phone rang impatiently. "Well, I hope you enjoy your stay," he quickly excused himself and went to answer his call.

"Whoah. I hope I sleep in a bed that a celebrity has slept in before!" Leo grinned.

"Leo!" Hazel fanned her face, looking away.

After we got checked in, we headed to our rooms. All the boys were sharing a suite, and the girls were sharing a separate one.

"Check it out!" Frank gestured us to come over. He took something out of the refrigerator. "A jar of peach preserves!"

"And brownies!" Leo held them up triumphantly.

We all sat on the couch, eating. I hadn't realized that I was so hungry.

"What do you guys have planned for tomorrow?" I asked them.

"I'm taking Piper to a park for a picnic," Jason said through bites of brownie.

"Hazel and I are going to Big Ben –that clock tower," Frank said.

"I'm going to go to Home Depot," Leo said as if it were the most normal place to go during a school trip. "You?"

"Rachel is bringing me to an _Annabeth Chase_ concert," I sighed.

"Good luck bro," Jason wiped his hands on his pants.

p~p~p~p

"How long do we have to wait in line?" I asked for the thousandth time.

"Not that long," Rachel replied.

Thirty minutes later, we had hardly moved. There were a lot of people. Annabeth Chase had a lot of fans.

Finally, we were seated. Rachel got VIP tickets, so we had to sit in the front. The front _row_.

"Rachel, you really didn't have to –"

"Percy, you don't have to thank me. I want the best for us, and I think we have a good shot together," she took my hand. I decided not to finish my sentence.

She seemed really happy. Like, really, _really,_ happy. Like, a weird type of happy. Like…a victorious way.

"Um, okay," I mumbled. I politely let go of her hand and started to stand. "Can I go to the bathroom? I don't feel too w –"

"Percy, it's about to start!" She yanked me back down in the seat and grabbed my hand again.

_Great_, I thought. _I can't even go to the bathroom_.

"Hey everyone!" Annabeth Chase walked out onstage. Everyone in the audience screamed –well, everyone except me. And Rachel. It probably looked weird, me just leaning in my chair while everyone else was holding up banners and glow sticks and screaming.

She looked out to the audience –when her eyes glanced over at me and Rachel, she flinched. Probably because we weren't screaming, I guess. I didn't blame her.

For the most part, I was just sitting there. I didn't know any of these songs –but apparently Rachel did. She kept singing along way off tune.

"_You are beautiful_," Annabeth Chase ended. She finished and nodded to her drummer and guitarist.

I don't know why, but I kept staring at her everytime she glanced in our direction. She was pretty, I guess, except in an artificial way. Her eye makeup covered her gray eyes.

"Isn't this great?" Rachel yelled over the commotion.

"Not really," I muttered.

"What?"

"Uh, yeah, it is! I'm having a great time!" My voice awkwardly switched to one octave higher.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for all the reviews ;) I enjoy reading them a lot. Now…I need to start the next chapter! Don't worry, I have something planned for it! Have a good night/day! Who else has finals? I do…happy studying…lol –Sophia **


	15. Chapter 15

**Annabeth Pov**

_Hurt_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I thought you loved me_

_But I was so stupid_

_Why did I believe everything you said_

_Everything is unread_

_Just go back in time, please_

_Go back and don't hurt me anymore_

There I was, sitting there on my dressing room table during intermission, refusing to let Tiffany fix my mascara.

"It's smudged," she complained, trying to wipe it off my undereye. "You look dead."

"That's fine with me," I sighed and leaned on my chair. Rachel and Percy were holding _hands_ in the front row. What were they doing in London? Was it going to be Rachel's way of embarrassing me?

Tiffany noticed the look on my face. "What's wrong? Did you mess up on stage?"

"No."

"Are you tired?"

"No."

"Is it me?"

"No."

"Is it Sarah?"

Just as I was about to answer no, Sarah came in.

"Annabeth, are you ready for your answer?"

"Not yet," I answered glumly.

Oh yeah. You probably don't know what we're talking about. So, Sarah had told me that Harry Styles had asked me if I wanted to go out with him last night.

"After you announce that you and Luke are over, you can add in that you're going out with Harry," Sarah had said.

"I don't want to," I'd told her stubbornly. "Besides, I don't want Taylor to get mad at me. I'd never do that to her. I don't find Harry attractive in any way. And all his fans are going to hate me, because I'd take away their chances."

Sarah had sighed, exasperated. "Is it that boy?"

"_Annabeth_. Come on," Sarah snapped me back into the world. "You need to let him know by _today_."

I stood up, straightening out my dress. "I'll think about it."

a~a~a~a

"Thank you everyone!" I yelled. "I love you all! I'd like to give thanks to the backstage crew –without them, I wouldn't be here. And _you_ guys! Without you guys, I wouldn't be here at all!"

The crowd screamed, but I kept my eyes on Rachel, who was looking at me intently, like she was expecting something.

"I just want to notify you all that Luke Castellan and I are over," I spoke into the microphone clear and slow, just in case people switched the words around and misunderstood. "We're going back to being friends."

Practically all the girls in the front row screamed so hard my ears hurt.

"OMIGOSH HE'S FINALLY SINGLE I'M GONNA TEXT MY FRIEND AHHHHHHHH!" someone stood up and shrieked so loudly that everyone, even me, could hear clearly.

The only person who looked mad was Rachel. I couldn't hear her, but I could see her mouth moving, "WHAT!?"

"Thank you all, and have a good night!" I yelled, and ran offstage.

Cassie directed me downstairs, to, of course, sign autographs until 10:30. Fun.

One of the girls ran up to me and hugged me so hard and wouldn't get off that the security guards had to pry her off of me.

"Oh my gosh!" A girl said to me as I signed my CD. "Can you tell Luke I say hi! I'm Isabel! Tell him I'm single!" I told her I would, and she happily took the CD and left.

Next was Rachel and Percy…I had been expecting them to turn up.

"So…" Rachel said as I signed her CD. "You and Luke are over?"

I looked up at her. I could see through her stare that she was threatening, _I can say it now. I can tell everyone everything now. _

"Uh, yes, we are," I said casually, signing my name slower than usual. I handed her the CD. "You?" I asked Percy, holding my hand out for the CD.

"Oh, I'm with her," he said, placing his hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"Oh," I smiled at them as nicely as I could and dropped my hand, though I was dying inside. "Okay."

a~a~a~a

I sat in my hotel room, thinking. I was so stupid. What chance did I have with Percy? _I'm with her, _he'd said. Of course they were dating. And they were holding hands. Both of them.

Luke opened the door that led from my room to his. "Sarah told me to get you for dinner," he said.

I took a deep breath. "Luke, how do you stop loving someone?"

"You don't," he said simply. Wow. Real helpful. "Who is it? I heard that Sarah said –"

"Just don't listen to what she says," I sighed.

"Are you going to dinner or not?"

"I'm going," I sat up and stretched. "I'll have to, right?"

He smiled. "Thank goodness we are broken up. Okay, that sounds weird. But still."

"You'll have a thousand girls at your door. By the way, this girl Isabel says hi. And she says she's single. And Emily, Kaitlyn, Claire, Samantha, Lucy, Lee, Anna, Emma, Tina, Hanna, Spencer, Aria, Nancy, Elisa, Lauren, Dominique, Jill, Eva, Mallory, Kayla, Rebecca, Julia, Maya, Madison, Arianna, Marta, Amelie, oh yeah and…"

This hotel restaurant had dinner, which was good. I didn't want to ride in a limo to somewhere as simple as Subway.

"Did you think about it yet?" Sarah asked, shoving a forkful of salad into her mouth.

"Well…" I thought about Percy and Rachel holding hands. And a dreadful thought occurred to me –that he never liked me before. I inhaled sharply and sighed. "I guess you can tell Harry okay."

"I thought you didn't like him," Luke teased.

"I don't."

"Then why –"

"I don't know!"

"Well –"

"GUYS. CALM DOWN," Sarah commanded. "Thank you. Annabeth, I'll let him know right after dinner."

He answered right away. I was hoping he'd reject me later on so Sarah would just stop bugging me about him, but no.

a~a~a~a

"So, where do you want to go?" Harry asked me. First date, and we had nowhere to go.

"Let's just sit in the café over there and talk," I suggested, pointing. "It's mostly empty, so the paparazzi won't find us that easy." I was wrong.

"So, how's your album doing?" he asked me as we sat down.

"Okay," I fidgeted in my seat. There was an awkward silence that lasted for at least three minutes. "So," I tried to close the silence. "How's your band?"

"Wha –? Oh. Oh," he laughed. "Actually, we are doing –"

_Snap! _I turned around so suddenly I shook the table. I was pretty sure I'd just heard the sound of a camera.

"What is it?" Harry looked concerned.

_Really, what is it? _I gritted my teeth. "The paparazzi. They've found us. Let's get out of here."

"Okay."

We tried to get up quietly, but then a bunch of cameras swirled around us.

"Annabeth Chase ditched Luke for Harry!"

"C'mon, Harry, give her a kiss!"

"Don't leave! Tell us about your relationship!"

"Just ignore them," I whispered to Harry.

"What did you say, Annabeth?" a camera was suddenly straight in my face. "Can you say it a little louder?"

I kept my head down for so long, my neck hurt.

a~a~a~a

"How'd your date go?" Sarah opened my hotel door.

"It was terrible," I showed her a magazine. It said, _Annabeth Chase and Harry Styles caught in a café! _

"That's great!" Sarah clapped after she finished reading. I looked at her.

"Did you say 'that's great'? 'Cause let me tell you that it is _not_ great at all, and I want to break u –"

"You're on a magazine cover with Harry Styles! You'll be twice as famous now!"

Of course that's what Sarah says.

"You know what? I think I'm going to go for a walk. As Annabeth. The girl that was in San Francisco," I told her, leaning over for the makeup remover.

"Stay in the hotel," Sarah said, smoothing out her skirt.

"I will," I assured her.

**First let me say that I am SO SORRY to all the One Directioners, and I am SO SORRY to the non- One Directioners. Or if I offended you in any way :) I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! And don't worry to all of those who are begging to find out when Percy finds out about Annabeth –I just need to find the right place and time to put it in. Thank you so much for all the reviews, and get ready for more drama! –Sophia **


	16. Chapter 16

**Percy Pov**

"I can't believe they broke up!" Rachel fumed as we entered the hotel. "Why did they break up?" She was asking me as if I was supposed to know the answer. We just came from the art museum, and the thought still hadn't left her head since Tuesday night.

"I don't know," I said helplessly, then pressed the elevator button.

Rachel crossed her arms across her chest. "I mean seriously. They've been together for such a long time, and now they're going back to being _friends_?" she wrinkled her nose.

_Ding! _The doors opened, revealing an empty hallway. We stepped out as the elevator doors closed. There was something on the floor. "What's this?" I picked up a folded magazine. "Annabeth Chase and Harry –"

"Give me that!" Rachel snatched it out of my hands. Her eyes brightened up as she read.

"Someone probably dropped it here," I said.

"Now Annabeth is with Harry Styles! Yay!" Rachel clapped.

I was really confused. "Wait. I thought you wanted her and Luke to be together."

"As long as she's taken from someone other than yo –I mean, I don't really care _that_ much…"

I took out the hotel key to the boy's suite. "I'm really tired now. I think I'm going to go to bed. So…see you…"

She nodded. "See you tomorrow. Don't forget –tomorrow we're going to another art museum!"

I turned the key and pushed the door open. Jason was sitting on the sofa watching the TV, his hair wet. Probably took a shower already.

"They don't have anything good on, now," he said, flipping through channels so fast my eyes couldn't focus.

"Wait! Stop on that channel," I told him, sitting down.

"This one?" Jason asked. "This one? This one?"

I kept shaking my head –I was pretty sure I'd just saw Annabeth –the one I knew –sitting in a café.

"This one?"

"Ye –kind of…" I squinted. It was Annabeth _Chase_ sitting with Harry Styles. In a café. Not Annabeth. "I guess my eyes tricked me."

Jason paused at that channel, listening to the reporter.

"…these photos were caught this afternoon. Now the question is, Is Annabeth Chase becoming a player? Is she going to break up with Harry and break his heart like she did to Luke? Well…"

Jason turned the TV off. "Just gossip. What'd you do with Rachel today?"

I groaned. "We went to an art museum for the whole day. I really didn't do much except listen to Rachel blabber about Picasso, and then suddenly switch to how Annabeth Chase broke up with Luke."

"Piper and I went to the London Eye. It was so cool! We climbed up to the observation wheel, and later we went out for lunch at this amazing Bistro restaurant…"

"Sounds like you had a better time than I did," I sat up. "You know what? I think I'm going to take a walk around the hotel to…relax. And have a Rachel-free time."

"Have a good time," Jason called as I closed the door behind me.

Right as I was going to step in the elevator, someone stepped out at the same time and we both bumped into each other. A tangle of blonde hair the smell of Pantene got pressed against my face.

"Sorry," we both mumbled at the same time, then stepped back.

I looked up at her. What? It couldn't be. It was too much of a coincidence. But, standing in front of me was…Annabeth. Not the celebrity, but the one that I'd been meaning to find.

"Annabeth?" I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Um, hi, Percy," she brushed her hair out of her eyes. She looked a little nervous, like she was afraid a monster or something would appear behind her, because she kept looking back.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Uh…you know…my…uncle! He has a band, so I'm staying here with him for now."

"Oh." I managed out. All the things I've wanted to say to her –suddenly I couldn't.

"How about you?"

"School trip. Seven people were chosen to come here," I explained.

"I'm guessing Rachel was one of the seven?" Her voice sounded a little hurt. I knew Rachel didn't like Annabeth, so Annabeth probably wasn't so fond of her either.

A door opened in the hallway. We both tensed, but it was just an old woman. She was just standing in front of me, which I didn't get. Later, I realized that I was blocking the elevator.

"Yeah. And Piper, Jason, Leo, Frank, and Hazel." I said as I apologized to the old woman and stepped out of the elevator so she could go in. "How did you know Rachel was one of the seven?"

"I saw you guys at the concert on Wednesday…" her voice faltered.

"Really? You like Annabeth Chase? Maybe we can go to a concert together. I'm here for two weeks, so –"

"No! I mean, um, no thanks. I'm really _not_ a big fan of her. My uncle made me go and sit through it all…"

"Same with me! Rachel is dragging me everywhere. So annoying," I said, which made Annabeth smile.

"I…really have to go. I –"

A door opened. This time, it was Rachel, not an old woman.

"Percy? I thought you said you were _tired_," she walked towards us. "Annabeth? Oh hi…" she pulled me away from Annabeth.

"Bye Percy," she gave me a sweet smile, and politely excused herself from us.

Rachel waited until the elevator doors closed. "What are you doing with _her_?"

"Why not?" I was tired of her telling me what to do.

"_Because_," she sighed. "Let me show you." She pulled me into the girl's room.

"Ah!" Piper yelped. She had a towel around her shoulders. Thankfully, she was covered. "Percy, I think you're in the wrong room."

"I'm just going to show him something," Rachel led me to her bedroom and closed the door, so it was only us two.

"I think I need to leave," I said, suddenly feeling self-conscious, and reached for the doorknob.

"Percy. Wait," she pulled out a folder, and handed it to me.

I opened it. "You _stole_ Annabeth Chase's private information?" I looked though the papers, feeling mad. "That's not right."

She laughed cooly. "You don't get it, do you? I found this in Annabeth's locker. The Annabeth you were just with."

A thousand thoughts shot into my head.

_"So, since you're moving back, are you going to join the drama club again?" _

_"Yeah. I'd have to join anyway…I can't really quit. I already…have a part in the play. It's my job. I need to keep on going."_

Did she mean…no. Of course not.

"Annabeth would never…"

"Oh really? Annabeth was only _using_ you, Percy. She was already dating Luke at that time. She only wanted attention. I was trying to protect you."

_Now the question is, Is Annabeth Chase becoming a player? _I could literally hear the reporter say it over and over again in my head. It echoed across the room.

"No," I whispered. "She's not Annabeth Chase. She –"

"Then who is she?" Rachel smirked. "What's her last name?"

"I…" I wanted to break down. I didn't even know her last name.

Rachel handed me the magazine that I'd just picked up. I looked at Annabeth. Though I didn't want to believe it, I could see her under the makeup. The gray eyes. When I flipped the page, there was _a flip here to smell Annabeth Chase's Breathless! perfume. Available where all fragrances are sold. _I smelled it –and it smelled just like Annabeth –lilac and sage.

"I need to go talk to her," I opened the door of her room.

"Do you _really_ want to, Percy? I'd think if I were you." She flipped the page back to the front. "She's dating Harry Styles now. Your flirting session is over."

I suddenly got angry. "I was never flirting with her!"

"Believe what you want," Rachel sat down on her bed.

I exited Rachel's bedroom and stormed out of the girl's suite with the folder and the magazine.

"Bye," Piper called after me.

I checked all the floors of the hotel –there was 30 –but I didn't see any sign of Annabeth. Or Annabeth Chase.

I went up to the front desk. "Excuse me, do you know what room number Annabeth Chase in in?"

The hotel manager laughed. "A crazed fan, aren't you, young fellow. I'm sorry, but you're not the first who's tried to get into her room."

"What? No! I just need to talk to –"

"That's a very nice excuse, I'm sure," the manager cut me off. "But I'm sorry."

**You guys are probably, like, "Finally!" So, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and don't worry –this is a Percabeth story, not a Perachel story. Thank you for all the reviews -70?! Thank you so much! And more than 100 followers? :o ****I'm going to be updating faster, since school  
ended for me.** Anyways, there's more to come! –Sophia 


	17. Chapter 17

**Annabeth Pov**

_Not So Easy_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I wish I'd never even agreed_

_Why did I have to make this all so hard?_

_Why did I have to even start this all?_

_Everything's not so simple, not so easy (x3)_

"_Get me with your sea green eyes, get me with your midnight hair, I love the way you move, I love the way you talk…"_ I danced around my room, singing my heart out.

"Someone's happy," Tony entered my hotel room.

"Did your room run out of toilet paper again? Because, trust me, if you and Mike are still trying to see if you can build a fort –"

"Not about that. We have enough…I think. Anyway, you've got to see this…" Tony pulled out his computer. "I don't want to upset you, but I found this while we were waiting for our toilet paper fort to dry. I thought you'd want to see this."

I decided not to question him about what he just said about the fort and sat next to him, listening to the reporter speak. "All of these photos were caught this afternoon. Now the question is, Is Annabeth Chase becoming a player? Is she going to break up with Harry and break his heart like she did to Luke? Well…"

"What? I am _not_ a player!" I felt so infuriated, as I stared at the pictures of me and Harry holding hands.

"Weren't you just talking with Sarah about how you wanted to break up with Harry?"

"Well…" I paused. After I saw Percy…I felt like I had a chance with him. He'd told me that he actually _didn't_ like Rachel. And, somehow, I felt like we had a connection going between us. He didn't know who I really was, so he still saw me as a regular teenage girl. I couldn't help thinking about breaking up with Harry after Percy and I bumped into each other.

"…it seems as if Annabeth Chase may have lost the sweet little girl that was once locked inside of her. You better watch out, Harry. If…" the reporter continued on, giving me a headache.

"So…basically, you're telling me that if I break up with Harry, they'll think I'm a player?" I asked him.

Tony nodded.

"So…I _can't_ break up with him." My throat hurt.

"Unless you want everyone to think you're a player."

"Of course I don't! I want to be a role model for my fans. But…"

"Well, I've got to go back to Mike. Just wanted to stop by. Our fort is almost dry. We used paper mâché –you should come see it when it's finished! We –"

"That's very thoughtful of you, Tony, but not now. I've got some other things I need to take care of."

He waved and closed the door behind him.

I needed to talk to Percy again. Next week, he'd be gone.

_Ding_! My iPhone beeped. I sighed as I reached over to open the message. It was from Harry. I had to stifle a groan. _Hey Annabeth –want 2 go 2 the art museum 2morrow? National Gallery?_

Since when was he interested in art? _Sure, _I typed. _I have nothing better 2 do._

_ Great! _He immediately responded. _Love u _

I hesitated for a long time before answering. Finally, I wrote, _Love u 2._

a~a~a~a

"I'm going to call you Harrison for today, and you'll call me Anna," I told Harry, handing him sunglasses.

"But, why? And…why do I have to wear these? It's not that sunny out today," he looked puzzled.

I sighed, as I put on my sunglasses, and tucked my blonde hair into a hat. Why did he have to be so clueless? "Because. Then the paparazzi won't find us that easily, like last time. And no one will know who we are. Hopefully."

"Ohhhhh…"

We stepped into line, waiting.

"Um, excuse me, how long do we have to wait?" I asked the people in front of us. They pointed lazily to a sign. _Two hour wait. _Guess they weren't so enthusiastic on waiting.

"So…" I started. I'd been trying to think of a way to quietly end our relationship without letting everyone know.

He took my hand. "Well, it's not _that_ long. At least we'll be together."

"Right," I muttered. I couldn't just break up with him now, not on our second date. Especially since we'd only been together for less than a week –people would start to think that I _am_ a player.

"I'm going on tour after next week," I informed him. "So, I won't be able to see you for a long time."

I was hoping he'd say, _I'm sorry, I don't think this is going to work out, _or, _I think our schedules will pull us apart –it's probably best if we break up. _Instead, he said, "I'll be waiting here for you." My hand started to sweat.

After a long time, I glanced behind my shoulder and caught my breath.

Percy and Rachel were right behind us, waiting in line. Like normal, casual people. Did they have to be here at the same time, day, and place? Just my luck. I wanted to talk to Percy, except not with Harry and Rachel around. They both knew who I really was –and Rachel probably was going to tell him sooner or later. I wanted to tell Percy everything myself.

"Uh, Harr-ison, how much time passed?" I whispered.

Harry checked his phone. "15 minutes," he told me. "Why?"

"Nothing," I reassured him. He didn't look too convinced, probably because I kept looking back. I forced myself to stop every five minutes, though after that I couldn't help but turn around.

An hour and 45 more minutes waiting in line with Percy and Rachel. Thankfully, my disguise was good enough to convince them that I was just a regular person. Who wore sunglasses inside.

Finally, we got tickets and entered the National Gallery.

"Annab –I mean Anna –let's go to see _The Netherlands_, in room 5. Second Floor," Harry suggested, looking at the floorplan on the map.

"Sure," I agreed, adjusting my sunglasses. "Let's go." I looked over at Percy and Rachel –they were headed the other direction. I didn't care –as long as we were away from them, I was okay with _anything_.

**Another chapter for you guys! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'll update soon :) How's all of your summers going? Good enough to log onto fanfiction, I'm sure! Thanks for all the reviews –I like reading them. Take care –Sophia **


	18. Chapter 18

**Percy Pov**

"Percy, just stop it. She's not here," Rachel said through her teeth.

In line, I thought I'd heard Annabeth talk. But when I looked in front of us, it was only a girl wearing sunglasses and a hat (inside? Huh) holding hands with a curly haired guy. The girl kept glancing back at us, which made me uneasy.

"Are you sure? I thought I heard her, and I really need to talk to her," I looked around. We were in Room 8 –Florence and Rome, and there were tons of people in here. Maybe Annabeth _had_ been here.

"We're here to admire the art, not look around for celebrities who pretend to be normal people," Rachel told me. "Come on." She dragged me towards a painting. "This one is _An Allegory with Venus and Cupid._ It represents love. That's Venus, that's Cupid. On one side, that one, represents pleasure, and play. The other shows jealousy, fraud, and other passions. These are all emotions that correspond with love. Isn't it so detailed?" Rachel stared at the painting in admiration, then looked at me.

"Um, yeah," I shifted uneasily. It was a little _too_ detailed. I guess people in the olden days didn't care if they were naked or not. They needed to put on clothes.

"I think I like this one a little better," I moved on, and read the title. "_The Virgin adoring the Child with Saint Joseph_. Yeah, I like this one." I had no clue what it was about, but at least it was a little more appropriate.

Rachel looked at the painting. "Oh yeah, that one! That…" for the whole time she was saying things I didn't understand. For all the paintings in this room, she had an essay prepared with it. Her academics? Not so great. But art? Don't even get me started on her long speeches.

"Let's go to Room 5, the Netherlands –it has my most favorite painting of all!"

"Sure." Hopefully, if I went along with her, I could get this over with and we could leave.

p~p~p~p

"I love this one!" Rachel raced over to a painting. I had really no choice but to follow.

"_Adoration of the Kings_. Don't you like the backround?" She gushed.

"Um, yeah," I muttered. "It's very…castle-like."

She rolled her eyes. "Because it is a castle!"

"Well, yeah. Of course it's a castle."

We moved a little to the side to let a couple look at the King's Adoration, or whatever it was called. It was the same people who were in front of us while we were in line.

The guy, said, "Look at all the colors. So detailed!" He spoke with a British accent. Oh yeah –we were in London. Forgot that. Except it sounded so familiar.

"I know, right!" Rachel sighed. "Isn't the backround amazing?"

"Oh, yes. The sky, as well…"

Rachel and the guy began discussing about the painting, leaving me clueless. And the girl, with the sunglasses and hat. I moved from one foot to another. It was so loud in the room, with people scrambling about, but it felt like it was silent.

"I've been wanting to talk to you," the girl finally said. I wasn't sure I heard her right. I didn't even _know_ who this person was.

"What?" I asked, puzzled.

She straightened, like she was suddenly aware of what she'd just said. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were a different person."

"Oh," I nodded, trying to break the awkwardness between us. "The paintings here, are really…detailed."

"They are," she agreed. "I'm more of an architecture type of person, though."

"Oh."

"Actually, _Annabeth Chase_ is going to be in the _lobby of her hotel_, signing autographs Sunday, at 9:00," she told me, which I had to take a moment to register. She'd changed the subject so fast, it took me a minute to take it in.

"Really?"

She nodded, and looked me in the eye, even though she had sunglasses on. "It's late, and there'll be a lot of people, but…it's worth it right?"

Suddenly, I felt uncomfortable. She seemed a little…mysterious. Like she knew all my secrets, my fears, my troubles. I didn't even know her.

"Um, yeah. Look, I have to go now. Rachel, and I, um, we have to go." I tugged at Rachel, who was in the middle of discussing the how the painting was by Gerald David.

"Wait! What's your name?" she asked the guy.

"Harry –ison," he told her. "Harrison."

I pulled her away before she could tell him hers. "Percy! What is your problem?" Rachel spat at me as we got into a taxi.

"Um, well…" I couldn't think of an excuse.

She crossed her arms and wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the ride.

p~p~p~p

Sunday, 8:56 p.m. I was still debating whether or not to go. Annabeth –Chase, would be signing autographs, and probably wouldn't even get to me. But I needed to talk to her before Friday. Finally, I stepped into the elevator. I checked my watch. 8:59.

_Ding_! I got out of the elevator and looked around. Why weren't there any crowds? Cameras? It was 9:00 –shouldn't everyone be here? In the corner of the room, I saw the girl with the sunglasses and hat sitting on a couch, reading a magazine. I decided to go talk to her, and ask her about Annabeth Chase.

I cautiously walked over to her. "Um, hi. Shouldn't Annabeth be here?"

She looked up. "Oh, hi. I really wanted to talk to you." She removed her sunglasses and pulled off her hat, letting her long, blonde, hair tumble onto her shoulders, and stood up. She was Annabeth Chase, but she wasn't.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say. I couldn't even start.

"I'm sorry I disguised myself as…um, that person," she looked at me. "What's wrong?"

"You –I'm not sure I even know you," I managed out, not daring to look at her.

"What?" she sounded hurt.

"I know someone who was my math tutor, who called me 'Seaweed Brain,' and would make me feel…" I stopped. I felt a mix of feelings. Hurt, love, anger, sorrow...

"Is this because…I pretended to be a girl in sunglasses and a hat?"

"No, not that. You –Annabeth Chase –you're really not her, are you?"

**Finally done! I know a lot of you are waiting for Percabeth –I will add some when the time is right. So…a little cliffhanger here. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and sit tight for more! –Sophia **


	19. Chapter 19

**Annabeth Pov**

_Please Understand_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I want you to know, how I feel_

_Even though this is really hard, but real_

_'Cause every time I turn around, my heart see's the truth_

_And I'll have to tell you_

_Please understand, me now_

_For what I had to do_

_Please don't allow, it all_

_For everything to come true,_

_Please understand _

"What?" My skin tingled. Percy _knew_ already? But who…Rachel. Of course. "It's not what you think –it really isn't."

He looked at me uncertainly. "I'm not really sure what to say…I mean…" he sighed. "I really liked you…but…"

I took a deep breath. "I can explain everything. I mean, if you want to listen, or not…"

He looked at me and shrugged.

So I told him everything –from the beginning. How I ended up in San Francisco, and how Sarah decided to pay me with a regular life for two months if I did a concert there. How I had to be in a forced relationship with Luke for many years –which be both detested. How life was as the real Annabeth Chase behind the scenes, with Sarah as director. How I _really_ wanted to be a normal person. And how… I liked him too.

"Oh," he finally said, after I finished. "I…still don't know what to say."

"I understand," I looked at my hands. "I know it's hard to take in."

"It's just…" Percy glanced at the magazine, then back at me. "My math tutor…you…Annabeth Chase? I really wasn't expecting this all."

"I'm sorry I…made this huge mess. If you want, we can just…pretend we never met, nothing happened, you can be with Rachel…and I'll just –"

"Annabeth, I _want_ to be with you," he interrupted, taking my hand. "Just not with Annabeth Chase."

"Oh," my voice grew small. What did that mean? He wanted to be with me, but he didn't?

_SNAP! SNAP! SNAP!_

"Hey Annabeth! Who's this?"

_What_? I looked around me and found my sunglasses and hat sitting on the couch. I'd forgotten that my disguise wasn't on. Sarah had told me to reapply my makeup this afternoon. I didn't put a lot, but it was enough for everyone to know…

_No, _I thought. _Not now. Anytime but now._

It was the paparazzi.

"What's your name?" A camera was literally shoved in Percy's face.

We started slowly walking away, trying not to bump into anyone.

My cheeks felt hot. There was no telling how long they had been there.

"Annabeth! Hey Annabeth! Look over here! Can you tell us more about this fellow here?"

"Come on, now, you were holding hands! Tell us something!"

"Do you want us to call Harry now?"

Thank goodness the hotel manager finally whisked them away.

"I –I'm so sorry for that," I apologized. "I should probably go, and leave you out of trouble –"

"No, it should really be me who's apologizing," he gave me a smile. "I'm sorry."

I looked at my watch. 10:12 p.m. "You're going to be leaving on Friday, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"I'll give you…my _real_ phone number, not the one that I give out to my fans, which I gave you," I told him, as he took out a piece of paper. "Okay, it's…"

a~a~a~a

"Annabeth? Can you explain this?" Sarah handed me a magazine. It was Tuesday morning, after my interview.

I stared at the cover. Is _Annabeth Chase a Player? Pg 13. _I flipped to page 13, sure enough, to find a few blurry photos of me and Percy holding hands. I looked up uneasily from the magazine, meeting Sarah's eyes. "I…"

"Annabeth, I thought I've discussed this with you a thousand times. No dating regular guys, okay? I don't trust them."

"Because you don't trust me? Because you've never before? Sarah, I really –" my phone rang, and I had to step into the bathroom and answer the call. "Hello?" I said, closing the door behind me.

"Annabeth." It was Harry.

Harry! I totally forgot about him. "Harry, I am _so_ sorry –"

"Leave it for the paparazzi," he said bitterly. "I really didn't want to believe all the gossip, but, I guess it's true."

"What? No! It's really not what you think –I'm not dating –I don't like…" my voice faltered. Because I realized, I _did_ like Percy. He had every right to blame me.

"Annabeth, I really, don't know what to do. I thought you were a sweet little girl who can hold onto long relationships. Now I know how Luke feels."

_Really, _I thought. _You know how Luke feels. Sure ya do. _

"Bye, Annabeth. I mean, you're really nice, but no thanks. I don't think this will continue. Sorry." And he hung up.

I groaned, and threw the soap on the ground. I know, I was overreacting, but I was frustrated. "Why does _everything_ have to happen to _me_?"

Finally, I opened the door.

"Who was it?" Sarah asked me before I even stepped out of the bathroom.

"What? Oh, it was just Harry, you know. We were just talking, chilling. Everything's cool."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Really."

"Yes, really. Just a little, talk, you know. We had so much fun about the art museum! I mean, did you know that _the Netherlands_ was a Danish collection –"

"Dutch, you mean."

"Yes, Dutch! Of course! I meant to say that. Anyways, we saw the –"

"Annabeth, you might as well tell me the truth."

I sighed. "Fine. He broke up with me. On the phone, because of the photos on the magazine, and because he doesn't trust me anymore."

Sarah snorted, as she reapplied her lipstick. "I don't blame him."

"I never liked him in the beginning! You were the one who _made_ me."

"I never made you do anything." She tried to occupy herself by switching on the television.

"Oh really?" I suddenly felt angry. "Because of you, everyone thinks I'm a player! Which I'm not!"

As if on cue, the reporter on the T.V said, "I had my doubts before, but it looks like Annabeth Chase is turning into one of those girls! We all know she's growing up. Teen celebrities…Look at these photos!" the screen showed one of the pictures from Sunday night, the one with me and Harry in a café, and Luke and I hugging.

I glared at Sarah. "See?"

"What you see is _yourself_, Annabeth."

"I shouldn't have gone to San Francisco –all it did was make everything worse. Now everything is so complicated…"

My phone beeped. Then again. And again.

"Annabeth?" Sarah glanced toward it. "Give me your phone."

"What? But, I need it!"

"For what?"

"For, um, contacting people?"

"Like who? You're done with Harry. Luke is in the room next to you. You're not going to be going to anywhere these days except to your interviews and photo shoots and back, which I will be supervising. Hand it over."

"But –"

"Annabeth, hand it over."

I reluctantly plopped it in Sarah's hands. Thank goodness she didn't know my passcode.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Who's read the Son of Sobek? I have –I won't spoil it, but I'll just say one thing. It's GOOD. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll try to update soon. –Sophia **


	20. Chapter 20

**Percy Pov**

"Why are you mad at me? Can you at least say something?"

Rachel flipped the magazine pages, stopped at one, and held it up. "What am I mad about? Really?"

I had nothing to say for that. Thankfully, Piper rushed up to me, which saved me from explaining to Rachel. Except I had to explain to Piper instead.

"Percy, you knew all along? Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.

"Knew what?" The lunch menu? The address for the aquarium that was nearby?

"Annabeth!" Piper said, as if it was obvious. "How she was _the_ Annabeth Chase!"

"What? No, I didn't!"

Then Hazel came over. "Percy, I can't believe you! Is that why you were always at your 'tutoring sessions'?"

"No! What do you mean? I didn't –I was only tutoring with her!" My head started hurting –girls yelling at you –it's tough.

Piper plucked the magazine out of Rachel's hands. "Then how can you explain this?" She pointed at the picture of me and Annabeth holding hands.

"I only just found out _after_ –because of Rachel. She was the one who knew since –since Annabeth came. And she never told us!" I tried to bring the subject off _me_.

"Hey!" Rachel protested.

"Wait. How did you guys know that she was Annabeth? You only saw a picture of me and Annabeth _Chase_," I noted.

"Rachel posted everything we needed to know online this morning," Hazel simply said. "We thought you knew all along, and then told her."

"She did _what_?" I looked at Rachel incredulously, who was quietly picking at her nails.

"She also posted it on the school website, and wrote an article for the school newspaper," Piper added.

"Why would you do that?" I looked at Rachel. No answer came from her. "_Rachel_," I said again.

"Okay, fine, I did. Yippee. Party's over now. Okay, let's –"

"What? But –she –then everyone –now the whole –why did you–"

"Really, Percy. It's not my fault everyone needs to know the truth," she said defensively.

"But you don't even know why she came to California! How can you just tell the whole world that without knowing the whole story?"

"To get attention!" Rachel rolled her eyes.

"No, to have a chance of being normal!"

"Wow, someone's being real defensive," she said.

I blushed. Was I being really defensive? Well, I was standing up for Annabeth, because…well, because…I…cared about her!

"I need to talk to Annabeth," Piper announced, then reached for my phone.

"Hey, no!" My hand immediately went to my pocket. But she already grabbed it, and was now scrolling down my contacts list. I tried to grab it, but she just lifted it out of reach. Finally, I decided to give up –I probably looked ridiculous anyway, like a dog trying to catch a butterfly.

"Okay, here," Piper gave it back to me. "I told her to meet me, you, and Hazel downstairs in the lobby tomorrow, to talk."

"You know that this is Annabeth _Chase_, right?" I reminded her. "That's basically like you're texting Obama. She might be busy."

Hazel fixed me with a look. "Well, if you talked with her Sunday night," she paused to reach over to take the magazine off the couch, "we can too." She looked intently at the pictures. "Is that _really_ you?" she asked, probably not wanting to believe it.

"No, that's my twin," I put my head in my hands.

My phone rang. I looked at the screen.

"Hello?" I said.

"Percy! How's London?" My mom asked me.

"Oh! It's…it's really great!" I tried to mask the uneasiness in my voice. "I'm having a great time!"

"I just wanted to check on you, and see if my baby boy is okay," she said.

"Really? Well, I'm doing great!" _Stop saying great_, my mind nagged. "Are you doing great? I mean, okay?" I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from talking.

"I'm okay. Well, I'm glad that you're '_great'_." She paused. "Actually, I thought I saw you on the magazine that just came in the mail…"

I waited, until I realized that the reason she called was because of the magazine. "Oh. Uh…"

"Your dad said it looked like you, but I know it's impossible. What would you be doing with Annabeth Chase? I mean, really…"

"Yeah. What would I be doing with Annabeth Chase?" I laughed nervously. "Why would I be with her?"

"That's what I told him! Except he pointed out your eyes, and your hair…well, as long as I know it's not you, I'm okay."

"Yeah," I tried to hide my guilt.

"Well, bye Percy. I hope you continue having a _'great'_ time!"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I will. Thanks, and bye Mom." I hung up quickly, so I wouldn't end up blurting out the truth.

"Did your mom catch you cheating on me with Annabeth?" Rachel eyed my phone.

"What? I wasn't cheating –I don't even li –" my voice trailed away. Because I realized, I _did_ like Annabeth. A lot.

"Let's go out for a dinner for seven," Piper offered. "I'll call Jason. Wonder where he is. Hazel, do you mind calling Leo and Frank? Leo's probably at Home Depot again."

"Sure," Hazel flipped open her phone, and excused herself into the hallway. Her phone was old fashioned, but she liked everything that way.

"Hello? Jason? Where are you?" Piper said into her phone. "What? I can't hear you! You're where? At the…snarm? What? Oh…at the farm! What are you doing at a farm? Talk louder! Wait. Say that again? Because there was a free hay ride? Really Jason? Okay, well, meet us in the lobby in one hour, okay? Love you." She pressed end and blew her hair out of her face. "He's on his way here."

"Okay," I sighed, though something else was on my mind. I wanted to talk to Annabeth right away, so I could tell her what Rachel  
did. What would happen to her?

**First of all, I'd like to thank you guys for the reviews -100?! I am, like, freaking out. You guys are AMAZING! Sorry that it took me a long time to update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look forward for more! Here's to never growing up…sorry, that song was stuck in my head, heh heh. Have a good night/day! –Sophia **


	21. Chapter 21

**Annabeth Pov**

_Can't Stop_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_You're on my mind every single minute_

_Every single second_

_I just…_

_Can't Stop, thinking about you, it's like I…_

_Can't Stop, dreaming about you, _

_Cause every time you enter my world_

_I can't stop_

"I signed everyone's autographs for two hours and fifteen minutes instead of just two hours," I informed Sarah.

"Very good," Sarah said without looking up from her phone.

I eyed her blackberry. "So…can I have my phone back?"

"No."

We were sitting in the back of the limo, Tom driving. I had just signed at least more than a thousand autographs for two hours _and_ an extra fifteen minutes. My reward? Nothing.

"Just got a text from Cassie –she says you have another sound check in an hour," Sarah looked at me.

"Yippee," I said, making my sarcasm show on purpose. My reward was a sound check for another two hours.

_Beep_! A sound came from Sarah's shiny black purse. My phone! It was in her bag!

Sarah saw me looking towards her bag and put one hand protectively over it. "Not until Friday."

I sighed. "Alright." _Who texted me? What is it about? What happened?_ I thought. I suddenly got really curious, and began to think of the possible people who would've messaged me. I mentally began scrolling down my contacts list, which was easy, since I didn't have many. Tony or Mike? No. Definitely not Tiffany…what about…Percy? I felt a tugging sensation to reach my phone.

a~a~a~a

The sound check didn't go so well. We were there for an extra hour because everyone kept messing up. Well, mostly me.

"Annabeth, concentrate! It's just a quick microphone check!" Cassie gave a frustrated groan.

"Sorry," I mumbled. Mike looked at me for a cue. I nodded at him, and he started strumming the first notes.

_"I met you, just in –_I mean, _on a –" _I started.

"Stop!" Cassie gave a time out gesture. "First of all, the microphone is way too loud. Second, it's I met you just _on_ one normal day. Just focus!"

I took a deep breath. _"I met you, just on one normal day, oh, it was a fairytale. I hope you know, that you are beautiful," _I sang. Cassie gave me a thumbs up. So far so good. _"Get me with your sea gre –"_ my voice cracked.

Cassie clucked with disapproval. "Annabeth, come _on_! What are you thinking about? Stop zoning out!" She folded her arms and sat down on the stool. "Start from the chorus."

I sighed. _"Get me with your sea green eyes, get me with your midnight hair, I love the way you mo –" _

"Sorry," Tony grimaced sheepishly. "I played the wrong rhythm –eighth note, sixteenth, sixteenth, whole…"

My mind couldn't even comprehend what he was saying. "Yeah, yeah, it's that," I interrupted him.

Cassie put her head in her hands. "Okay, from the top."

_"I met you, just on one normal da –" _I started for the thousandth time, and of course, got interrupted for the thousandth time.

"Wait…sorry. I accidentally played e sharp instead of f," Mike apologized.

"E sharp _is_ f," I reminded him.

"Oh yeah! Sorry…"

a~a~a~a

I stepped into Sarah's room. "What did you want?"

"Can you just watch my room for a second –my hotel door lock is broken," she quickly smeared on a few coats of her lip gloss.

I glanced towards her purse. "Sure!"

"Thanks Annabeth," she walked out the door. My hand was halfway towards her purse when she opened the door again. "Don't touch anything that's mine. If I take a while, you can turn on the T.V.," Sarah hurried out the door.

I made sure she was in the elevator, then started scavenging around her purse. Where was it? There were so many pockets, I had to take everything out so I wouldn't get confused. "Here it is," I pulled out my phone, then zippered the pocket carefully.

"Yes, this is my room –the lock appears to be broken," I heard Sarah say outside the door.

"Shoot," I cursed. I furiously began stuffing all of her items in random pockets, buttoning and zippering as fast as I could. I plopped her keys in right when she opened the door.

"I think the inside might be the problem too," she stepped inside along with a technician. I shoved my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. "Thank you, Annabeth. You can go, now." She turned to the technician. "My stepdaughter, Annabeth Chase."

He grinned. "Annabeth Chase, huh? How's Harry doing?"

My cheeks heated up. "Um, he's doing fine."

He nodded, and started to say something.

"Well! I should be going now –have a good evening!" I interrupted him and raced out the door before he asked me any more questions.

When I entered my room, I opened my messages. _Hey Annabeth –can you meet me, Hazel, and Percy in the lobby 2nite at 7:00? Thnx ~Piper _

I had another message from Harry: _How come u never told me?_

How did Piper know who I was? And what did I not tell Harry? Just as the thoughts came, Sarah rushed in. "They're fixing it. Can I stay in your room for now?"

I groaned silently. "Sure. I kind of need to –"

"You should start getting ready for your tour. It's Wednesday. We'll be leaving on Friday morning," Sarah looked around. "Can you start packing?"

I glanced at my watch. 6:56. "Okay." I hauled my suitcase out of the closet. "Actually –I…lost something the other day…can I go to the front desk to ask them if they've seen it?"

She pursed her lips. "What did you lose?"

"Oh! Uh…" my eyes looked around the room. Window, curtains, desk, light, painting… "I lost the mini…camera that I brought with me when I went to the art museum with Harry."

"You can't take pictures in museums."

"Which is why I put it away somewhere…and I can't find it. Can I just go to check downstairs?"

She thought for a while. "Fine. Just be quick," she finally said.

"Thank you!" I rushed out the door.

In the elevator, I quickly put on sunglasses, rubbed off my signature peach colored lipstick, and put my hair into a ponytail.

After going down at least twenty floors, I stepped carefully out of the elevator.

I saw Piper talking to Hazel and Percy in the far end of the lobby, and walked over to them.

"Hi…I got your text…" I suddenly felt shy, especially in front of Hazel and Piper. I didn't get to talk to them as Annabeth Chase.

Hazel and Piper looked at me funny. "What?" Piper looked confused.

"Oh!" I took off my sunglasses and sat down next to them. "Sorry about that…" I found it difficult to look in their eyes, so I tried looking at Percy.

"Hi, Annabeth," he blushed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Is it –are you really Annabeth _Chase_?" Hazel asked me.

I inhaled. "Yes, and I'm so sorry and I didn't pretend to be a regular girl just to hurt you guys it wasn't like that and I really want you guys to know that because I'm Annabeth Chase it doesn't mean I'm different and I just wanted to have a chance of being normal and I hope you guys forgive me for everything and I'm so so sorry," I blurted out.

There was a moment of silence, as they tried to decipher what I just said.

"It's okay," Piper patted my shoulder. Her voice soothed me a little. "We're not mad at you…we were just surprised."

"It's a little hard to take in," I agreed.

Percy nodded. "It was, but it's okay now. We're here for you."

"How did you guys find out?" I finally managed to ask.

"Rachel kind of posted it online…" Hazel winced.

"_What_? But…" My voice faltered. She posted it online? But –my job –the fans who looked up to me –the record company…this was probably going to be on T.V within seconds –it probably _was_ on T.V already –which would explain why Harry…

"You'll be okay, right? Your career too?" Percy knitted his eyebrows, looking concerned. My heart melted.

"Yes, I'll –I'll be fine," I reassured him. I didn't want them to try and help me –that would just make things worse. I needed to talk to Sarah…! I checked my watch. 7:18!? How did time pass by so fast?

"I have to go now –I'm really not supposed to be here," I straightened, putting on my sunglasses.

"Do you want to meet us here tomorrow again? Same time?" Hazel offered.

"I have another photo shoot tomorrow night, but I'll try," I promised her. "Bye Hazel! Bye Piper! And…um, bye Percy," I stepped up to him and gave him a little hug, which he returned back. We both stepped back, blushing. "If I don't see you guys tomorrow –I definitely will another time," I waved as the elevator doors closed.

As soon as they opened again, I raced out and flung the door open.

"Did you find it?" Sarah asked.

My hand went up to my head. "Oh. No, they couldn't find it…"

She sighed. "Well, you took quite a while. Anyways, I cancelled your photo shoot that was supposed to be scheduled for tomorrow –"

"Really?" I got excited.

" –because your dad is coming here to visit you before your tour," Sarah finished.

"What?" I felt so disappointed. When would I be able to see Piper, Hazel, and Percy again? And even the others?

"Aren't you excited to see your father? You haven't seen him in months!"

"I am, but…you know…"

"Well, you should continue packing. Then you won't have to worry when your dad gets here."

"Of course! I'll go right into it," I said, probably a little too enthusiastically.

**Sorry this took me a while to update ;) Thank you for all the followers, favoriters (I'll call them that for now), and the REVIEWERS! I hope you guys are enjoying this story –and this chapter – and I will try to update sooner. Bye! –Sophia**


	22. Chapter 22

**Percy Pov**

I watched as the elevator doors closed. Piper coughed behind me. I turned around.

"Did we just notice him liking her, or did he just start liking her?" she said to Hazel, as if I weren't here.

"What?" I said, clearly confused.

"No, I think he's liked her all along," Hazel remarked, continuing to act like I was invisible.

Piper nodded. "I agree."

"I mean, they were holding hands on a magazine..." Hazel said.

I waved my hands in their faces. "Whoah. I have no idea what you guys are talking about."

Piper placed her hands on her hip. "We're talking about your humongous, gigantic, helpless crush on our friend, Annabeth."

I blushed. "Oh. That…hey!"

Hazel nudged my shoulder. "You admit it!"

"Well…" I didn't know what to say for that.

"You _have_ to tell her," Piper pressed.

"I already did! Kind of…" I sat down on a sofa and pretended to be occupied in reading a magazine. Which had Annabeth Chase's face on it. Hoping they didn't see, I tossed it on the table and picked up another.

Piper sat next to me, snatching the magazine away before I had a chance to look at the cover. "What did you say?"

My cheeks heated up. "Well…I just told her I liked her. After confronting her for being Annabeth Chase…"

Hazel rolled her eyes. "That's _it_?"

"I told her I wanted to be with her, but not Annabeth Chase. And that's it," I confessed.

"What is that supposed to mean? You like her but you don't?" Piper sighed. "I don't really see any 'hearts' in that."

"How do you know all of this 'mushy love' stuff?" I asked, taking another magazine from the table and flipping to a random page. Looks like the nose hair clippers were on sale this week.

"You can't just tell a girl you _like_ her. What will that lead up to? You need to actually say something if you want to…get in a relationship. How do you think Jason and I started dating? Ask her if she wants to a dinner, or somewhere, at least," Piper suggested.

"Well…it's kind of too late now that we're leaving Friday morning," I stated, flipping the page.

"It's never too late to do anything," Hazel said, throwing out her deep philosophical quotes.

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Go for it. Tell her. Not the scummy way that you did."

I exhaled through my nose, and finally tore my eyes away from the extremely interesting (not!) magazine. "I just get really nervous…and I'm afraid I'll say something wrong." _Percy, what are you doing now? Taking love advice? _

"Just take a deep breath, and listen to your heart," Piper advised. "Then you'll be fine. You can talk to her tomorrow, if she can come."

"Have courage," Hazel added.

"Okay," I said, beginning to feel a little more confident. I mean, what was there to be afraid of? She's only Annabeth Chase…

p~p~p~p

"Hey Percy. Guess what? I just came from Lowe's! It turns out the Binding Post Screws are a dollar less than the ones at Home Depot!" Leo grinned like crazy.

"Really? That's great," I tried to sound excited.

"I know right! It's _sooo_ worth it…"

So, I had to listen to Leo ramble on about how the post binding screws were a dollar less, right after I listened to Hazel and Piper's lecture on girls. My head was really starting to hurt.

"I'm just…you know…going to go to my room now –I'm a little tired," I excused myself, heading into my room.

Right when I walked in, my phone beeped. I walked over to it, eager to see who it was from.

_Hey Percy. How's London going? We have to do work at school while you guys are enjoying life. Well, anyways, did you hear about Annabeth –your tutor? It turns out she is actually ANNABETH CHASE! Can you believe that? Everyone's talking about her now at school…well, anyways, uncle just wanted me to check on you. See you in like three days or something –Thalia _

Everyone was talking about Annabeth? Immediately I felt a pang of annoyance. It wasn't her fault, and she didn't do anything to them! But I couldn't say anything –Annabeth had told me not to.

_London's great, _ I typed. Then I remembered how I used great too many times with my mom, so I deleted great and replaced it with amazing. _Yeah, I heard about Annabeth. Anyways, tell my dad and your dad that I'm doing fine. _

Thalia responded right away. _That's cool. You don't sound so surprised about Annabeth. I was expecting a dramatic reaction from you, since she was, you know. Your tutor. _

_ Really Thals? Dramatic reaction? That would be you, _I wrote.

_Um, nuh uh. Remember the time I accidentally spilled cake on you from New Year's Eve? _

_ You did it on PURPOSE. And that wasn't a dramatic reaction! _As you can see, Thalia and I get along well.

_The caps lock and exclamation points explain it all. Believe what you want. Anyway, I gtg. Dad's calling. Enjoy your last few days. Oh, btw, the teachers have loads of work for you guys, so you'll be having some fun when you get back. _

_Bye. _I decided it was best not to argue. _Wait! _I typed, making up my mind. Hopefully she was still on her phone.

_What is it? _

_Um…_

_…_

_….._

_Percy, I really have to go now. Is this a joke?_

_No! Um…do you have any girl advice?_

_HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

_Thalia…_

_HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

_I really shouldn't have asked…_

_BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_

_Didn't you say you had to go? Because you can go now…_

_My advice is two words. Be yourself._

Be yourself. I can do that…I think. _Ok thanks, _I wrote.

_Okay now I really need to go now. Bye. See you when you come back._

**Hey everyone! Here's chapter 22 :) A little girl trouble with Percy in this one! Anyways, I hope you all are having a great summer! I have the story planned out already, and I'm not sure yet, but it might stop in between 30 – 40. Maybe 50, but most likely not. Thanks for all the reviews (more are appreciated) and followers! You guys rock! –Sophia **


	23. Chapter 23

**Annabeth Pov**

_I Can't Leave it All_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_Maybe I never thought of it before, but I loved it, I loved it_

_Whatever I did before, everything that happened, I loved it, I loved it_

_I can't leave it all…_

_I just can't…_

_Leave it all…_

"Annabeth? Do you have a second? I need to talk to you," Sarah stopped by my hotel door.

"Okay," I sat up, stretching. "What is it?"

She closed the door behind her and hesitated, as if not sure where to start. Finally, she said, "The record company. It's moving to America –and they're not sure where, or how, or…anything. Anyways, your job might be a little unsteady for a _long_ time. We have no idea when they're going to move, or where. Either we move with them, or you quit. It might be a long time until they decide where they move, though."

My throat felt dry, despite the water I'd just chugged down. "So…"

"Yeah," Sarah sighed. "Please don't mention this to your father –yet. At least for today. Okay?"

I looked on the floor. How would my career survive –we'd have to move, all of my interviews, photo shoots...a surge of regret, bitterness, helplessness, and shame washed over me. I felt a feeling I'd never felt before. Suddenly, I realized that I actually _loved_ being Annabeth Chase. I'd miss all of the stage lights flashing down on me (which caused me to see blue and green spots when I went backstage), the crowd singing along (I had to shout after all my shows because I couldn't hear anything), and my stage crew (who all drove me crazy, especially Mike, who put a spider in my hair one time before a show.) I'd miss Cassie saying '5 minutes till show time!', the steady beat of Tony's drums, Mike's notes on his guitar. I grew up with this all. I couldn't leave it. Flashbacks started flashing in my mind.

_"You have a beautiful voice," Hazel whispered as we sat down. _

_ I blushed, hoping that I didn't project my voice that loudly. "Thanks, you too."_

_ "No, mine's average. You should really become a singer," she smiled._

_ "Um, I'd rather not, really. It'd be tough, with all the pressure."_

_ "Well, maybe. But it would be great to let everyone know who you are, and the amazing talent you have."_

I shook my head.

_"When I grow up, I want to be just, like, you!" A girl no older than 5 gushed._

_"Really?" I asked, posing for a picture with her. Snap!_

_"Yeah! I want to be the one on stage singing to make people happy, like you do!" _

_"Well, thank you so much!"_

"Okay?" Sarah repeated.

"Okay," I looked at her. "So…tomorrow…might be my last tour?"

She inhaled through her mouth. "Yes. Just play it cool with Dad."

"Alright," I sighed. "Actually…I forgot to ask –now that everyone knows I went to California…how are we going to take care of that problem?"

Someone knocked on the hotel door. "I'll get it," I got up and opened the door.

"Annabeth!" My dad pulled me into a hug. "Room 378, right? I accidentally knocked on 278 –turns out Adele was staying there. She was really confused."

"Um…hi dad," I muttered, forcing myself not to gag into his tweed jacket. It smelled rusty with a hint of firewood.

He let go of me and grinned. "How's your album doing?"

He asks about my album, but not me.

"It's doing great –she already sold more than a million copies in a week," Sarah handed him the one thousand dollar check (from me!) that he got every time I saw him. Honestly, I don't think he deserves one thousand dollars. I don't think he even deserves a _dollar_. How is he a responsible, loving, father if he never even checks on me? No phone call, text, email, not even a skype video call from him. _Um, Sarah_, I wanted to say. _Shouldn't we be saving the money, now that my job is in risk?_

"So…where are we going to dinner today?" I asked, wanting to carry on. Hopefully, if we finished early, I would have time to see Hazel, Piper, and Percy.

Sarah laced her fingers together. "Your father's favorite. Mine too. That French restaurant we always go to! We already made reservations there."

"But…isn't that like an hour away?" I wasn't very fond of that place, probably because I've been there a thousand times. People always stare at me, and there's not much privacy.

"Tom will be getting paid extra for today. Don't worry, Annabeth. Everything will be fine!" She stared hard into my eyes, and I could tell she was saying _Stop complaining. _"Can you go reapply your makeup? It's wearing off now…"

I sighed, and went back to my hotel room. It was like every father-daughter reunion we had.

a~a~a~a

"I'll have the _Poulet Poché au Vin Blanc," _my father read off the menu.

The waiter nodded. "And you?" He stared at me, waiting for an answer. His voice was clipped, and he had a very heavy French accent.

"I'll have…_Soufflé Vendôme," _I told him.

"We don't serve it as a main dish here. It comes in a small plate. Are you sure you want it?" He paused, in the middle of writing it on his pad of paper.

"Yes, yes," I nodded, hoping he could just go faster. We've been here I ordered something small on purpose, so I could get this over with and then we could leave.

Sarah ordered _Páté de Campagne_. She and my dad both decided on tropical cocktails, while I settled for a simple glass of water.

The waiter excused himself and walked away.

"So, Annabeth. You have your tour, right?" My dad said, trying to make conversation. Apparently, the ones he tries to make all center on my job.

"Yes –_The Story of Me_ tour – we're leaving tomorrow morning," Sarah answered for me. I nodded.

"So after your tour, you'll stay in your mansion, right? Or are you going to continue living in that hotel?"

"Yes, the mansion. We only stayed in the hotel because of the interviews and photo shoots. You are welcome to come visit the mansion anytime you want," Sarah said for me again.

"Yeah," I said, so I wouldn't sound like I was against her. Which I was.

"I'll try to stop by from time to time," he promised.

Thankfully, the food arrived, so the awkward silence didn't hang around for so long.

"Annabeth, you're eating really fast," Sarah noticed. "If you're hungry, you can order a full size main dish."

"No thanks," I swallowed a spoonful, then scooped twice as much and immediately shoved it into my mouth. "I'm good."

"You don't need to hurry," my dad noted. "We're not in a rush. We have all the time we need."

I smiled weakly. "Right."

A few people started staring at me, because of course they saw me as Annabeth Chase. Some started taking out their phones and cameras. I didn't want to find any photos of me in mid-bite on the internet, so I took a sip of water.

Finally, we were done eating. "No dessert, Annabeth? This isn't like you," my dad scooped up another bit of his Strawberry Savarin.

"I'm really full," I told him.

"Well, you didn't really have a big dinner today, but if you say so…"

Sarah paid the bill, and finally we were back in the limo.

"How was your dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Chase?" Tom asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"It was great," me, Sarah, and my dad said at the same time. I realized that he only meant my dad and stepmom 10 seconds later. "Oh. Oh, never mind." I was too used to Ms. Chase.

_Isn't this what you wanted? _ My mind asked. _To have a chance of being normal? You've going to get it now. You have a chance of escaping this all. No more Annabeth Chase. _But I didn't feel happy.

"You guys go up to the elevator first," I told them. "I'll meet you guys in the hotel room."

Sarah started to say something, but luckily my father cut her off. "Sure, honey."

I gave them a smile, then put on my sunglasses as the elevator doors closed.

**Hey guys! I'm sorry there's no Percabeth in this chapter _ but there will be some in the next chapter! What's your favorite song? Mine (for now) is All Too Well by Taylor Swift, because it's a sad, sweet, song that touches my heart ;) Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to more! –Sophia **


	24. Chapter 24

**Percy Pov**

"There she is!" Hazel whispered so loudly you could probably hear her from the 30th floor. "Let's go!" She and Piper both took me by the arms and dragged me over to Annabeth.

"Hi Annabeth!" Piper patted her on the shoulder.

Annabeth turned around. "Hi guys! Actually, I –"

A mini crowd formed at the front desk, waiting to be checked in. The volume increased drastically as more and more people entered.

"Maybe we should go over there," I suggested, pointing over to a small living area that was at the corner of the room. We all headed towards that direction, as Annabeth continued on.

"I can't stay down here for long –my stepmom is going to get suspicious."

"That's totally fine," Piper assured her. "Gee, I'm thirsty. Hazel, want to come with me to the coffee bar? Let's leave these two alone for now." She nudged Hazel.

"Coffee sounds great, Piper. You guys talk," Hazel nodded, and shot me a look, that said _You have to tell her. _

_Don't leave me here! _I wanted to say, but I forced myself to stay calm. Annabeth looked a little confused, but she nodded to them as they walked away.

"So, I…um…" I couldn't bring anything up.

Before I could raise my courage and tell her how I felt, she said, "Listen, Percy, I came down here to say…I don't think this…thing…or…okay, my point is, I don't think we should talk or see each other anymore."

I didn't know what to say. "What?" I managed.

"Percy, you're a _really_ nice guy and all, but…you know, I have to focus on my job right now, which needs a lot of attention. You have to go back to California, now. I have to stay in London…and I might have to move to somewhere as far as Russia, or even India because of the record company. Go for Rachel, or Drew, or whoever. Not me."

"Annabeth –I –this isn't about Rachel, is it?"

"Of course it isn't. I'm fine if you like her, anyway, which you probably do –"

"I –"

"We're back!" Piper exclaimed, holding her cup of coffee in her hands. "What's new?" She glanced at me, expecting an answer.

"Nothing, nothing," I looked down at my hands, feeling ashamed and worthless.

"I really have to go now," Annabeth shouldered her purse, which was once a backpack that she brought every time she tutored me. "I'm sorry, Pe –"

"Annabeth!" A sharp voice voice called behind us.

She flinched, and I saw her brace herself for the worst as she turned around. She took a deep breath, and adjusted her sunglasses. "Sarah, I –"

"I just can't believe you –" she paused, and stared at me, her eyes focusing. "Come on, Annabeth. We're going to have a discussion upstairs."

I definitely wanted to yell at this lady, but I knew I had no power over her. Annabeth took it calmly, and followed her, walking farther and farther away.

"Take off your sunglasses, for goodness sake. We're inside," Sarah snapped at her. Annabeth took them off, folding them quietly, and glanced back at me. Her eyes whispered a quiet apology. I wondered when I would ever see those gray eyes in person. I watched as they disappeared.

"So…" Hazel decided carefully.

"I'm guessing it didn't go too well," Piper predicted.

I slumped on the sofa.

"Percy, don't worry. You'll see her again," Hazel tried to comfort me.

"She doesn't think we should see each other again," I sighed.

It got quiet after that statement.

"Are you okay?" Piper asked.

"Yeah," I stood up. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Hazel asked.

"I'm sure," I confirmed. "Let's go upstairs, now."

p~p~p~p

I decided to go to bed earlier, since I really wasn't in the mood for anything.

First thing I did. Grabbed my phone.

Second thing. Deleted Annabeth's contact. It wasn't that hard…okay, it was. I took 5 minutes debating whether or not to do it. Finally, I pushed her name…and watched as it got wiped out. If I didn't, I would've been tempted to call her, and then distract her from her job. I had to move on…right?

Third thing. I called my mom. I wanted to tell her that I was the guy on the magazine, and what happened.

She picked up immediately. "Percy! How are you? Are you okay? Did you forget your toothbrush? Are you feeling homesick?"

"Mom, I'm coming home soon. Don't worry about me. I just wanted to talk to you about…something."

"What is it? You can tell me anything, honey."

So I started from the beginning –how _Annabeth Chase _was my tutor. And then I admitted that I was the guy on the magazine.

First, I had to get through the _OH MY GOSH SWEETIE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS YOU ARE GROUNDED _mom freakout time.

Next, I had to get through the _Awww…honey…you never told me you had a crush on anyone! _mushy lecture.

After, she had a moment of confusion.

"Wait…which tutor was she? Sorry, you had so many tutors…oh wait! Was she the one who always let you use the calculator? No no no…hm…the one who always picked her nose?"

"The most recent one, Mom."

"Ohhh…the pretty one? Blonde hair, gray eyes…yes, that must be the one!"

"Yeah. Anyways…" I told her the rest. There were no interruptions this time.

"So," I concluded. "What should I do? I know I should move on, but…"

"Percy, I'm telling you something you already know. Listen to your heart, where you and your hopes are the strongest. I'm getting to old to baby you –"

"You just asked if I forgot my toothbrush five minutes ago."

" –but I know you are old enough to choose your own decisions because you are the best judge of them."

I wasn't exactly sure what she was saying. Listen to my heart? How can I listen to my heart when it's already been shredded to pieces? Right now, I'm pretty sure it's the weakest place where my hopes are.

"So…I should listen to my heart."

"Exactly."

"What if my heart doesn't know what to do?"

"Your heart always knows what to do –maybe you're not listening hard enough," my mom said simply.

Maybe I wasn't. I needed to choose what I thought was the best for me. And I knew what was best for me. I was going to move on.

"Thanks, Mom," I said.

"No problem, sweetie. Now, you're coming back tomorrow, right?"

I inhaled so fast I almost choked. It was the last day! I was so drawn into everything else that I hadn't even noticed. "Oh yeah! I totally forgot."

My mom laughed. "You couldn't wait another day to tell me about Annabeth. I guess it was an urgent situation for you," she teased.

"Hey!"

"Bye Percy. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Mom."

I hung up, feeling a lot better, and entered the living room in the suite. Everyone was running around, hugging the furniture.

"I'm going to miss you, round glass topped table," Jason hugged the table by its legs, and patted the top.

"I'm going to miss you, refrigerator," Frank moaned.

"Bye, toilet. Bye, sink. Bye, nice smelling soap," I heard Leo say from the bathroom.

"I'm going to let you guys say your good byes while I go pack," I decided, heading back to my room.

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter –mixed in a little humor in this relatively sad chapter ;) Thanks to all who reviewed! I really loved reading them! Anyways, do you think Percy is making the right decision about moving on? I definitely don't…read more to find out if he decides what's right and what's wrong! I'll update as soon as possible :) Sending love –Sophia **


	25. Chapter 25

**Annabeth Pov**

_Gotta Go On_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I gotta go on, be strong_

_Later on, the sun will start to rise_

_From the dark, and leave a mark_

_All the ugly scars, the beautiful stars_

_Everything will turn out how it's meant to be_

"Annabeth, I can't believe you," Sarah fumed as we entered her hotel room. "You've been sneaking out every night, haven't you?"

"No," I said truthfully. I hadn't been sneaking out _every_ night.

"How are you going to continue your career if you are focusing on your friends and…_boys_?" Sarah asked, wrinkling her nose. I tried my best not to think about Percy's face when she'd pulled me away.

"I –"

"Annabeth, maybe you should just stop and listen. We can't afford this, especially with the record company. You have no time for all this. Stop acting so immature. Do you realize we could go bankrupt? Do you realize that your job is the only thing that is holding us now?" She stopped to take a breath. I was going to say something, but she interrupted me again. "You need to show me you are responsible, and you can handle yourself."

"I know, Sarah. I'm not going to see them anymore, don't worry," I said softly.

She seemed surprised with my answer, but pleased. "That's good. You are still grounded, though. No excuses…" she said, responding to my face. "Now, are you ready for your tour?"

I stared at my suitcase. "Yeah."

"Perfect. Your tour _was_ going to last for 6 months, but, because of the record company, we can only manage three."

"So, I'm not going to be able to go to Japan?"

"I'm afraid we can only afford to go to America."

"Oh." I hoped I didn't sound too disappointed. I loved the architecture there. The beautiful details, the perfect measurements, the gorgeous colors splattered here and there.

I took my suitcase by the handle. "Well, let's get out this hotel, and onto the tour bus."

"Wait. Annabeth –" Sarah stopped my suitcase with her foot. "There's something important I need to tell you."

I waited. "Yes?"

"Well…" Sarah shifted from foot to foot. "I'm not sure how you'll react to this, but…I'm pregnant."

I caught my breath, and glanced towards her stomach. It _did_ look like she ate too many hamburgers. I was going to have a little sibling? "That's wonderful, Sarah. When will it be due? Boy or girl?"

"It'll be due in about 4 to 5 months, maybe even 3. I wanted to tell you earlier, but…I needed time."

I nodded. So _that's_ why one of the nights in California she'd randomly started puking.

"We're not sure if it's a boy or a girl yet, because we want it to be a surprise. Your dad and I wanted to tell you together, but he had to leave early. Anyways, I just want to tell you that you're going to be responsible for your own matters. You're going to have to handle a lot on your own, now."

"I'll be responsible," I said, feeling tenacious. "You take care of yourself."

a~a~a~a

Everyone was already crowding around the tour bus, writing little messages on it in eyeliner, lipstick, or whatever they could find in their purse.

"Everyone, out of the way," Tom yelled, as the crowds parted.

When I finally got on the tour bus, I took a deep breath. _To a whole 3 months of touring_, I thought heavily.

"You can relax now, Annabeth, because it might be the only time you have," Sarah told me.

"Okay," I pulled out my iPod and headphones.

First week. New York City.

All the city lights blazed to life, exciting and exquisite. Everywhere you went, people honked their horns and sirens wailed. It was crowded, pushy, and loud. But I loved it. It reminded me surprisingly of…Percy…

_Don't you dare think about him_, my mind warned. _Focus on your tour_.

"I love you New York City!" I yelled before racing offstage. Intermission.

And there was Isabell, the costume manager, to hurry me out of my costume and into my new one.

"Annabeth, you're on in 5," Cassie told me, as I headed into the wings.

"Okay," I said, straightening the straps of my dress. "Where's Sarah?"

"She's not feeling too well, so she went to go lay down," she indicated towards her stomach.

I nodded, showing I understood her.

"When you go onstage, walk straight up to the microphone in the middle –past Tony and Mike," Cassie pointed. "The others are for the backround singers, so they're not as loud."

"That one?"

"Yes, that one." She peeked out at the audience. "You're on. Good luck! I'll be backstage helping the crew."

I walked onstage, being cautious in my 5 inch heels. "Hey everyone! Ready for the best night of your life?" I basically jinxed it.

Everyone screamed, waving their glow sticks.

"Okay, so…" I fidgeted with the microphone. Why wouldn't it come off? Finally, with a strong tug, it came off. "This is a song I wrote for this guy –wait –why isn't this thing working?" I tapped on the microphone. _Not now_, I thought helplessly. I looked out in the wings. Sarah wasn't there. Cassie was helping the crew…I gave Tony a _help me out? _look. He gestured out backstage to the janitor, who got the message, and went to go call the others.

"Sorry!" I tried to yell over the noise. "Technical problems!"

Cassie quickly came, replacing the microphone with another. I made the mistake of helping her, and my heel turned, as I staggered. Thankfully, I caught myself. She gave me an apologetic look, then hurried offstage.

"Sorry about that," I spoke into the mic that was now working. "Anyways…this is a song I wrote for this guy who I met…"

The audience waited, thinking there was more, wanting to hear the story behind the song.

"Here it is," I carried on, not wanting to say anything about Percy.

_"I met you_

_ Just on one normal day, oh,_

_ It was a fairytale,_

_ I hope you know_

_ That you are beautiful," _I started. Well, at least no bad luck now…

_"Get me with your sea green ey –"_

"MARRY ME ANNABETH CHASE!" A guy screamed from the back.

I made the mistake of stopping. _Annabeth, why did you stop? _My mind scolded.

_"Eyes, get me with your midnight hair," _I tried to keep up with the music. _"I love the way you move, I love the way you talk ,how you brush your fingers through your hair, how you can take me anywhere, please know that you are beautiful,"_ I recovered quickly, trying not to focus on the audience. _Ugh, that last note came out bad_, I thought.

"_You captivate me _

_ With your green eyes, oh," _my voice cracked the slightest bit. Why was this happening? I was usually comfortable onstage! I tried looking out to the audience. All of them had green eyes, black hair, that infuriating smile…_Concentrate, Annabeth!_

_ "It was enchanting_

_ Amazing_

_ I was dreaming _

_ All night long, and I _

_ Hope you know…that you're beautiful, and I –_I mean –_ you…" _I wanted to stop and run off stage. Tony and Mike had stopped playing, and it was dead silent. They were waiting. But I couldn't. I had to do this –for me, for my fans, and for the record company. _Focus, Annabeth. You can do this. _

_"Get me with your sea green eyes,_

_ Get me with your midnight hair,_

_ I love the way you move, _

_ I love the way you talk, _

_ How you brush your fingers through your hair,_

_ How you can take me anywhere,_

_ Please, please know that you are beautiful," _I sang, Mike and Tony following along.

a~a~a~a

"How was it?" Sarah asked, lying on the couch. I plopped on the cushiony chair next to her.

"Not too well…" I sighed. "It was a nightmare."

But that wasn't what bothered me. I'd had a few bad shows before. But this one…I couldn't even think about Percy. The topic frightened me. I didn't want myself to like him. But…I was rebelling against myself.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry, we accidentally put the microphone that didn't work onstage," Cassie bolted in.

"You _what_?" Sarah sat upright.

"Sorry –we'll make sure it gets thrown away," she said, hurrying out the door.

Sarah put her head in her hands. "Annabeth, please don't let anything bad happen. Try not to get distracted, okay? I know you were probably nervous about the record company, so that's why you messed up…"

_Not really_, I thought, picking at my nails.

"You seem quiet today," she noticed. "Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm fine, fine!" I said a little too enthusiastically, grabbing the cup of coffee next to me and taking a huge sip. Ow. Hot. "I'm fine," I said, biting my tongue to stop the pain.

She looked unsure, but nodded. "Okay. Tomorrow, we're off to Philadelphia."

The next morning, I turned on the radio, listening. Our tour bus was pretty well equipped, I guess.

"Do you think Annabeth Chase is too distracted from her job because of boys?" the person asked dramatically. "Call in to say your opinion! Caller number 15! The number is…"

I sighed, turning the volume up. "Morning," Tom said. "On the road, day number three."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Well, I'll go take a shower. If you need anything, tell me. Sarah's still sleeping…we don't want to wake her up."

"Okay," I gave him a smile, as he went in the hallway.

"Who's this?" the radio host asked.

"This is Victoria," a muffled voice said.

"Well, you're caller number 15! Now, what do you think?"

"Oh, I definitely think Annabeth Chase is distracted, don't you think so? She's just this bratty little singer who thinks she can get what she wants because she's famous. She hurt Luke Castellan –that hottie! She hurt Harry Styles! Who else is going to be next? Last night's show portrayed it all," Victoria said in one breath.

_Bratty singer? I can get what I want because I'm famous? What? _I thought angrily.

"Thank you for calling in, Victoria. Now, who will call in next? 20th caller…"

I grabbed my phone and punched in the phone number, which I'd memorized already. _Please be caller number 20, please be caller number 20,_ I prayed.

"Who's this?" A voice asked.

"Annab –Annabell." I said with a southern accent.

"Well, you're lucky number 20! What do you think, Annabell?"

"Oh, well…" I said, though with my fake accent it sounded like 'wail' instead. "I don't think Annabeth is distracted at all. She just had a bad day, the poor dear. She never hurt Luke or Harry at all!" my accent slipped a little at the end.

"Thank you for calling, Annabell. Now –"

"She doesn't get what she wants just because she's famous," I pushed, not caring that I was persistent.

"I'm sure that's true," the radio host said as if I was a little girl. "I'm sorry, but your time is up. Have a good d –"

"Maybe she just wants to have a normal life without the press and the paparazzi trying to spy on her life!"

"Okay, now," the host said, now a little annoyed. "Thank you for saying your opinion –"

"It's not an opinion, it's a fact!"

" –have a good day." He hung up before I could say anything.

"Good morning," Mike said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Hey –what's with the accent?"

I groaned, and put down my phone. "Stupid people."

He raised his eyebrows. "Well, Ms. Sunshine, I'll be working on that new piece in my bunk –where's Sarah? I need to ask her a question."

"She's still sleeping…what's your question?"

"The stage directions for the song _Freedom._"

"Oh," I said. "Wait till she wakes up."

**I'm so sorry I couldn't update during the weekend –I was really busy. Anyways…how'd you guys like the chapter? I hope you guys enjoyed it! To those of you who are worrying about Percabeth, it'll work out, I promise! Now…stay tuned for the next –Sophia **


	26. Chapter 26

**Percy Pov**

"Percy, can you tell me the answer to this?" Mrs. Dodds snapped me back to attention.

"Uh –what?" I squinted at the question on the board. A few kids laughed, but I ignored them. I didn't want to get a week of detentions on the second to last week of school.

She sighed, and explained the question.

"Ohhhh. So it's 35."

"Why."

"I mean…47."

"I never said you were wrong, I asked you _why_."

"Oh…um…" I scratched my head. "Because…well…because you need to…" I was lost. I couldn't do this. _Focus, Percy_, a voice in my head said.

The bell rang, which was a relief. Until Mrs. Dodds barked at the students to stay all the way until I answered the question. Everyone was annoyed at me, because most of us had science next, and Mr. D can get _very_ grumpy.

My C+ in math went back down to C-. I couldn't think at all. It seemed that without Annabeth, a whole chunk of me was gone. School didn't seem so colorful. Especially since everyone was gossiping about how _Annabeth Chase_ was this, how _Annabeth Chase_ did that. I wanted to say something badly, but if I tried to interfere with anything, I probably wouldn't do anything but make things worse. They'd probably suspect I was the guy in the blurred pictures on the magazine too, which wouldn't be good.

Hazel and Piper always stood from a distance from me, because they thought I probably needed time to get over Annabeth. But I didn't. I was _definitely_ over her. Except for the fact that I sometimes zoned out and see her in my daydreams…okay…daydreams? I don't have daydreams. And I always smelled her perfume whenever Rachel walked by, which reminded me of the times we'd laughed during tutoring.

Speaking of Rachel…she seemed to be the only one who was happy that Annabeth had left.

"Hi Percy! I have great news! During the summer, my dad agreed to let me bring 2 friends over to our beach house in Hawaii! So, I thought I could invite you and Drew!"

"Oh," I tried to sound upbeat, though the idea of Rachel and Drew in bikinis lying out in the sun with me serving them piña coladas really freaked me out. "That's really nice of you, Rachel, but I really don't think –"

"We'll have _so_ much fun! You won't have tutoring in the summer, right?" She looked at me expectantly, thinking she already knew the answer. Of course, it was no. Annabeth was gone, now. Probably forever.

"Oh…I do," I lied, hoping she'd believe me. "Mrs. Dodds told me that I had to tutor in the summer in order to catch up with everyone else."

"What? I thought Ms. Hestia said there would be no school activities in the summer, which includes tutoring!"

"Yeah, but…my math grades are really bad…so I have to get tutored in the summer," I quickly said.

She just nodded, rolling her eyes. "Okay. You better get your grades up then. Because you are definitely coming _next_ summer."

"Um…okay…" I muttered. "Sure."

"Great!" she pecked me on the cheek. "See you tomorrow!"

I waited till she was out of sight, then rubbed the lip gloss off my face.

Piper and Hazel suddenly came out of nowhere.

"Percy!" Piper exclaimed, gesturing for me to turn around.

"So _now_ you're talking with me?" I headed towards them.

"Well, we thought you needed time," Hazel said defensively.

I sighed. "I'm already over her. It's fine, guys. You don't need to worry."

Hazel raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure you're over her?"

I wasn't sure how to answer that question. "Look, guys, I have period 6 next –"

"No, you have study hall," Piper corrected.

I looked down at my binder. "Darn it. I got my Spanish stuff for nothing."

"Well, anyways, we wanted you to hear this," Piper pulled out her earphones and iPhone. She offered me one, then put the other in her ear. She tapped on a song –_You're Beautiful_, by Annabeth Chase. Okay. They were going to make me listen to a song by Annabeth. That's all.

_"I met you_

_ Just on one normal day, oh,_

_ It was a fairytale,_

_ I hope you know_

_ That you are beautiful,"_ the song started. It was a good song with a catchy tune, I guess.

"Wait…" Piper put her finger up. "The chorus is going to start."

_"Get me with your sea green eyes_

_ Get me with your midnight hair_

_ I love the way you move_

_ I love the way you talk _

_ How you brush your fingers through your hair_

_ How you can take me anywhere_

_ Please know that you are beautiful," _Annabeth was singing.

It took me a while to take it all in. Like, a full 10 minutes. Sea green eyes…midnight hair…

"Do you know what this means?" Piper asked me.

I hesitated. "She probably wrote this song for someone else," I said, though I was unsure.

"It means that she liked you before!" Hazel squealed.

"You have to tell her somehow that you do too!" Piper added.

I put my hands up. "Whoah. First of all, she doesn't think we should be together. Second, she's kind of touring the world right now, and I have no chance at all. Well, maybe a negative one percent chance, if that makes sense."

"It doesn't," Hazel said. "Basically, you're saying you have a zero percent chance. Which isn't true, not even one percent if you want to keep talking math."

I sighed. "Guys, it's nice of you to…how should I say it…be concerned about my love life, but I'm sure I can handle everything. On my own. Thanks though –"

"Percy, come on. Why would she write a song about you? No one loses their feelings _that_ easily –"

"Erm, Hazel, remember that guy at the coffee shop who you thought was cute, and then five minutes later you lost interest?" Piper reminded.

"Because I realized he drank coffee from his nose!" Hazel protested. "Okay. _Mostly_ no one loses their feelings that easily. Don't tell Frank about the coffee shop thing! Anyways, I'm sure Annabeth still has feelings for you."

"How do you know?" I asked, staring at my binder.

"She's…I don't really know how to describe it…she likes things to be permanent, if you know what I mean. Like, a permanent A+, her steady grade. Or, a permanent job, which she's continuing. Or…a permanent relationship."

"She likes to build things that are permanent, and won't fall and burn," Piper suggested.

"Exactly!" Hazel clapped her hands together. "We have to find a way to see her. She's going on tour now, right?"

I nodded meekly. "Which takes away all of my chances. Back to zero percent."

"Don't think that way. We have finals in a week, and then it's summer vacation. We can go on a group vacation to wherever she's touring."

"Look, guys…you don't have to do this for me."

"She's our friend, too. Besides, if I don't think of something to do for the summer, my great Aunt Teresa is going to make me farm everyday…in the hot sun for 9 hours…" she shuddered.

"My dad is going to bring me to Hollywood, and make everything all…" she wrinkled her nose.

I glanced towards my locker. The bell had rung about five minutes ago. "I have to go to study hall…"

"We'll talk about it later," Piper said.

I opened my locker, placing my Spanish book back on the shelf. Did Annabeth really like me? I found it hard and easy to believe at the same time. She _had_ written the song about me –I think. She _had_ always had her way of making things permanent –I think. She _had_ told me that she liked me –I knew.

**Hey guys! Here's your chapter! (As I always say) Anyways, (which I ****_also_**** always say…huh) sorry for the kind of longish update. I just started another story –Mount Olympus's Got Talent! If you have time, check it out, drop a review, make my day! Thanks so much to all of you followers and reviewers for being so supportive of me! Continue enjoying your summer –Sophia **


	27. Chapter 27

**Annabeth Pov**

_Reach For the Hope_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I can still feel your wings flapping_

_Still feel your legs lifting_

_You can believe…_

_You can dream…_

_If you believe…_

_We all will reach for, the hope_

_Raise your hands and reach for the hope_

I'd just finished my show in Orlando, at the Amway Center.

"We're going straight to your interview," Sarah said in a tone that wasn't really happy or mad. Just neutral.

Okay, I'll admit that my last show didn't go too well. I messed up again –not because of Percy. Nothing because of him. I just thought I saw him in the audience and froze…okay, I did mess up because of him. I needed some time. That's all. Next month, I'd probably get used to it, and everything would go back to normal.

"Watch your step," I said cautiously as I glanced at Sarah's horrifyingly high heels, which were stepping on the rocky pavement. Falling would _not_ be good for her.

"I'm fine," she held her hand up. "Annabeth, you should be worrying about yourself, not me. The way you froze –whoops!" her left heel twisted and her knees buckled. I steadied her and thankfully she didn't fall.

"I'm okay," she breathed heavily. "If you keep on messing up, it'll only make the record company's situation worse. We were even going to cancel the show we booked for –"

"We're here –Sarah, would you like me to get you some water? You look quite pale," Tom saved me from listening to another one of her long lectures. Besides, I just needed some time, and then I'd be all good. No worries.

a~a~a~a

"Hey, I'm Joanne, live, with Annabeth Chase! She's been kind enough to stop by and give off some love advice for you guys! Call in if you need any help! Now, for some Kelly Clarkson," Joanne, the radio host, spoke enthusiastically. I wondered if she ever got tired of speaking in that overdramatic voice. _A Moment Like this _by Kelly Clarkson started playing. I adjusted my headphones, making sure the microphone was in the correct spot. Fans were peeking in the window, trying to get our attention. Well, more like shoving each other, trying to break in. I wished we were on the tenth floor, so then they wouldn't be able to distract us.

"Hello? Who's this?" Joanne asked.

"Caty," a girl spoke.

"Well, you are one lucky girl!" I smiled.

"OH MY GOSH! I am, like, freaking out right now! Me on the phone with Annabeth Chase! Ah!" Caty screamed, making both me and Joanne jump.

"Well, once you are done freaking out, you can ask her for some love advice," Joanne laughed.

"Okay. I'm calm. I'm calm," Caty took a deep breath. "So. Oh my gosh. Okay. Um, I really like this guy…I met him at camp and he's so sweet and cute…but I kind of lost my chance…because I thought he liked this other girl. I kind of stopped talking to him, and now he thinks that I…I wouldn't say _hate_, but…he thinks I don't really like him. Camp ends in three days now, and he's from a different state, so after camp, I'll never see him again. Now…I really don't know what to do."

My heart ached. "I know just how you feel."

Her voice turned interested. "You do? Did you have to walk away forever from a guy you liked too?"

"Me? Oh…um, no. I just…understand you. A lot."

"Oh."

"You know what? I think you should go for him. Tell him before it's too late. You have 3 days until he leaves, right? I think it's more worth it if you say how you felt."

"But what if he doesn't like me back?"

"Well, what difference will it make? He'll be in another state. If he _does_ like that girl, that's fine. Let him be. As long as he knows how you felt…the love will never die."

"You know what? I'll do that. Thank you thank you thank you!" Caty blurted.

"You're very welcome," I laughed.

"Well, Caty, have a good day! Continuing listening to the best radio station ever!" Joanne said, as Caty hung up.

Right after she did, I immediately felt guilty. Me, giving out love advice when I couldn't even handle my own? Caty had a _lot_ more courage than I did. Would I be able to do what she could?

a~a~a~a

I sat on my bunk in the tour bus, observing a photo. I'd dug it out of my suitcase, at the very bottom. I hadn't seen it since I was 13 –when I first became _the_ Annabeth Chase.

It was a picture of my mother and father. My father –his honey-sand colored hair squared off in the back and long in the front. His arm was around my mom, as if she was the most precious thing in the world. His smile greeted me, making me want to smile back at the guy who I didn't know anymore. My mom –her long black hair clipped with a barrette in the back, her gray eyes shining. Her skin shone like a goddess, and she was wearing a necklace that said _Hope_.

I traced the elaborate designs etched in the frame, sighing. Looking at the photo made me want to reach out to them, sob in their arms, and have them tell me it would be okay. My longing tugged at my stomach, making it tighten up.

"I wish you were here," I whispered to my mom, then set the frame back down reluctantly.

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the short chapter –I had to wait today to update, since I'm really busy these days (have a theatre show on Friday) so that's why. But, no worries! Anyways, how'd you guys like this chapter? ;) To all of you who've lost your parents, I'm sorry, and I'm sure Annabeth knows how you all feel. Reach for the hope! –Sophia **


	28. Chapter 28

**Percy Pov**

I unlocked the door agilely, and stepped inside. "Mom? I'm home n–what are you doing here?"

Thalia shrugged. "Dad said a 'family reunion', so….I'm here with Ellie –Jason has his date with Piper, so they'll join us later. Piper's basically family."

"He's got a date?" I asked. Though I was happy for him, I was also annoyed. Just a tiny bit. He got to be with the girl he wanted, while I had to be with Rachel. It wasn't fair.

"Yeah. Say hi, Ellie."

"Hi," she waved.

Ellie is Thalia's little sister. She's only just turned 5 a few months ago. "Hi Ellie," I smiled at her.

She raised her arms up. I sighed silently. I knew her long enough to know what she meant. "You're getting heavier," I said, folding the ruffles of her skirt down as I picked her up.

"I am. I'm a _big_ girl," she said proudly.

"I'm going to call your uncle and dad home –they're outside right now," Thalia dismissed herself, leaving me with Ellie.

I shifted her to my other arm. "So…what do you want to do now?"

She jumped out of my arms. "I'm going to get something." She came back with a backpack.

"What's in there?" I asked, as she unzipped it.

"Can you read this to me?" She asked, holding out a book.

I looked at the cover. _The Little Mermaid_.

"Sure…but don't you want to read…um…" I shuffled through her bag. "How about Bambi instead?"

She shook her head. "I want to read _The Little Mermaid_."

"Thalia can read it to you when she gets back," I said, starting to put the book back.

"No! I want you read it. Thalia says she's tired of reading this book to me," she placed the book in my hands and looked at me expectantly. I looked at the book. "It's a good story," she told me. "It's about a mermaid who wants to be a human really badly."

_Like Annabeth_, I thought. _She wanted to be normal_. Right when the thought came, I shoved it away.

I opened the cover uncertainly. I wasn't a type of '_Disney Princesses_' person…okay, I'll admit that I didn't really want to read a book where a girl likes a guy, and they live happily ever after. Real life wasn't like that. I'd only feel more alone. Which, of course I'm not. I have a _caring, loving_, girlfriend. Rachel. Yeah…not really. Right after I listened to the song Annabeth wrote about me…it made me feel hopeful. Until I reminded myself that she was around the world now, touring places and meeting a lot of new people.

I started to read, battling my dyslexia. "Ariel loathed to collect –"

"It's _loved_."

"Er, right. Ariel loved to collect treasures from the human world…" Once in a while, I'd mess up, and she'd correct me. I figured she memorized this whole book from reading it so many times.

"One day, she saw a… n-nan? Lying on –"

"A man!"

"A man lying on the sand, washed ashore."

I continued to read on, making mistakes. I was halfway through the book when Ellie interrupted, "That's silly. Why would Prince Eric want to marry the girl who he _thinks_ saved him? He really should've kissed Ariel. I'm pretty sure he liked her, and I'm definitely sure she loves him." She sighed.

"I agree. People shouldn't be judged from what they did, at least not all the time. It leads to misunderstandings. Just like Ursula disguised as that girl," I stated.

"What does diskize mean?"

"Disguise. It means to pretend to be someone you aren't," I defined for her.

"Oh."

Thankfully, the back screen door opened. "We're back," my dad said, taking off his hat. "Whoo, it's hot outside!"

"Sure is. It's probably going to thunderstorm tonight, since it's so humid," my Uncle stepped in and took off his shoes.

"Oh, they're back. That's too bad. Well! I'll finish this book another day, okay?" I closed the book, feeling relieved.

"Okay!" Ellie said happily, taking the book from my hands.

I headed over to Thalia. "Did she make you read it too?" she asked, her voice splattered with exasperation.

"Yup," I sighed.

"Last week, she was obsessed with Beauty and the Beast," she rolled her eyes. "I guess I shouldn't be complaining."

"Daddy!" Ellie trotted over to my Uncle. "Percy just read this book to me! He's a really bad reader. Even _I_ can read better than him!"

"More like you look at the pictures and have the descriptions memorized, but okay," I muttered.

"Dinner's ready," my mom called from the kitchen.

p~p~p~p

"How was your trip to London?" my Uncle asked me. The sound of silverware filled the room.

"It was –"

"Daddy, I want ketchup on my pasta!" Ellie complained.

"You may not have ketchup with your pasta, honey. Wipe your mouth with a napkin," he said, then turned back to me. "You were saying?"

"It –" I started to say.

"But _daddy_! I want ketchup on my pasta! It tastes good!"

"It'll ruin everyone's appetite, Ellie. Especially mine," Thalia told her, taking a sip of water.

"Not mine!"

"Well, of course not yours."

"But you said _everyone's_ appetite. _Everyone_ includes me," Ellie said matter-of-factly.

Thalia finally gave up, and sighed.

"My trip was really good –most of it," I finally got the chance to talk.

"Oh, I'm sure. London is beauti –" my Uncle started.

"How come I can have sauce on my pasta, but not ketchup?" Ellie interrupted.

My mom was trying hard not to laugh.

"That's a good question," my dad chuckled.

Ellie looked pleased with herself. "Ketchup and pasta sauce are _both_ made of tomatoes," she added. "They look alike."

Finally, my mom got the ketchup for Ellie because she refused to eat her pasta without it.

"Yay!" she squealed, as my mom handed her the bottle. "Ketchup!"

"Did you go to the London Eye? That's a wonderful –" my Uncle got interrupted for the thousandth time.

"Daddy! This tastes weird," Ellie frowned. "I don't like it."

"Well, I thought you liked ketchup with pasta, honey."

"I only wanted to _try_ it," she protested. "And I decided that I don't like it."

He sighed. "Well, next time, don't put ketchup on the whole thing if you're going to just try it sweetie," he said, taking his daughter's plate reluctantly. "As I was saying, the London Eye is a wonderful place to visit. It –"

The doorbell rang. "That's probably Jason," Thalia stood up, and ran to get the door.

"It better be him. It's already past 7:15," my Uncle looked at his watch. "Well, anyways, it has a gorgeous view at the top."

"I would've gone, except I was forced to go to art museums," I told him. "It wasn't so –"

"Percy? Rachel's here!" Thalia called from the door.

_What_? I thought silently. I ignored my parents' questioning looks and dismissed myself.

"Hi, Rachel. So, what's up?" I decided to start it in a friendly way.

"Hi Percy! I was wondering if I could come over!" Rachel gave me a huge smile.

I glanced back towards the dining room. "Well…" _you're kind of already over,_ I wanted to say. "Sure. Absolutely –uh, we're having dinner."

I sat at my seat, Rachel sitting next to me.

"Who's this?" my dad placed his hands together, trying hard not to smile.

"Oh! Mom –dad –Uncle –this is Rachel," I swallowed with difficulty.

"Nice to meet you," Rachel smiled.

"You look like Ariel," Ellie stated.

"Thanks, you little cutie pie! Percy, who's this!"

"That's Ellie, my cousin. Thalia's sister," I said.

Rachel glanced over at Thalia, who was picking at her nails. "Oh. Really? That's…nice," she said. I knew they didn't like each other very much.

My mom got up to get another bowl of pasta, and it got pretty silent.

"So," my Uncle said, "what were you saying about being forced to go to art museums?"

"Oh, um…" my face felt hot. I wasn't very good at improvising, and Rachel was staring at me. "Did I say that? I meant to say that I _wasn't_ forced."

"Ohhh. I see."

The rest of the dinner was really awkward. Rachel butting into our "family reunion"? Everything was quiet.

The doorbell rang again. This time, it was Jason and Piper.

"Jason, I told you to come before 7:15!" my Uncle scolded.

"We got stuck in traffic," Jason explained.

It got even more awkward when my mom went to go get her camera to take some pictures of "the cute couples".

She made me and Rachel pose for like ten hours.

"Percy, put your arm around her shoulders. Like completely. Okay, that's good. Smile! Tilt your head towards her. Okay, smile! No…I think it'd be better if you put your arm around her waist. Yeah, do that…"

For Jason and Piper, they probably were more neutral, being a real couple, so it didn't take as long.

"So cute!" my mom looked at the pictures, then passed the camera around.

I couldn't help thinking, as I looked at the picture of me and Rachel, about Annabeth, and how I'd feel if she was in Rachel's place.

**(I'm trying really hard not to say 'Here's your chapter!') Ok. Ahem. The chapter is here! I hope you liked this one! How's your summers? Mine's going GREAT! Just had my show! Thanks for all the followers and reviewers –my gods -175 followers and 133 reviews?! :O :O :O thanks guys! I don't really know the 'cookie thing' (has anyone else seen them around in fanfiction?) (:.) something like that heheh. You know what? I'll give you guys hearts instead - 3 3 3 Ta da! For you! Okay, now, I'll stop. Bye! Oh YEAH! I almost forgot to answer a few of your questions. This story is probably ¾ done now, and it might end around 45 – 50 chapters. ;) Sorry for this long boring speech! Get ready for some more drama/excitement/what else, coming up next! –Sophia **


	29. Chapter 29

**Annabeth Pov**

_Mixed Up_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_Why can't I ever explain my feelings?_

_My mind is always fighting back_

_Always keeping me, from the truth that lies within_

_Why can't I ever erase the thought that keeps on creeping_

_Up to me, never leaving_

_I'm mixed up now, can't decide who I am_

_Mixed up now, now, now…_

"Let's do it from the top," I told Tony and Mike. We were rehearsing –I'd pulled them aside to practice –if I messed up again…that wouldn't be so good.

"Wait, a second. Just a quick question –if you…" Tony racked his brain for the right word. "_Miss_ those two measures again tonight, should we play two extra bars in case?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Okay, from the top."

While I was singing, I focused on my music, making sure I was ready for the next note every single time. We didn't mess up at all.

"Good job guys," I said after we finished our last song. "Take five. After, we'll just run over the last song one more time. We're probably not going to mess up _this_ time!"

a~a~a~a

After the show (which went better, though I stumbled on a few of my words), I sat in the middle of my bunk with my guitar, strumming a few chords. "_I keep on looking out for you –_wait, no, that sounds wrong."

Someone knocked on my door.

"Come in," I said, letting my guitar pick fall on my bed.

"Guess what?" Sarah opened door. "I have good news!"

"What?" I asked gloomily, tracing the frayed edges of my guitar strap.

"Your album –double platinum!" she yelled excitedly.

She waited for my reaction.

"Yay," I say unenthusiastically. "Whopee."

"Best seller in 43 countries," she continued, as she sat on my bed, expecting a dramatic freakout.

I just shrugged.

"The song _Be Yourself_ got in top 3," she pushed on, smiling like crazy.

Realizing she wasn't going to even make a dent, she finally stopped. "What's wrong? You did better in your show tonight," she pursed her lips and looked concerned.

"Just…I don't know…" I said, unsure of where to start. "I'm just not in the mood for this now."

"Not in the mood? Double platinum. That's huge! Top three, best seller in 43 countries? And you're not in the mood? Come on, Annabeth. _Something's_ bothering you."

"I don't even know what's wrong. It's like half of me is telling me to do something I should, and the other half is telling me to do something I want."

Sarah shifted around. "Okay…well, it kind of depends _what_ you want. Just tell me. I'm your stepmother."

I raised my eyebrow. "You'll get mad."

"No I won't."

"Yeah you will. You'll say that I broke the rules and disobeyed you, and –"

"So you _did_ break the rules and disobey me?"

I sighed, and looked at my guitar. "See what I mean? Never mind. Just do your stuff, and leave me alone, okay?"

I expected her to go up in flames and explode, but she stayed. "Annabeth, I promise I won't get mad. Well, not that mad, at least."

"The last time we had a 'talk', you said you would try your best to let me decide what's best for me. You didn't do that."

Sarah sighed. "This time, I won't say things that I _won't_ do. Promise."

I was quiet, at first. _Don't say anything, _my mind nudged. _She'll make it all worse, and everything will get out of hand, including Percy, your job, and your stepmom. _That was convincing enough. I was about to tell her to leave, until I stopped.

_Say something,_ my heart said. _Once you get it all out, it'll be all over, and you'll feel better. The truth is the truth, right? _

Part of me was scared to realize the truth for even myself, but I started on the beginning. Sarah listened to me for the first time, nodding as I went on.

"I just want to be with the people I want to be with, be the person I want to be, and have the kind of life that I want," I concluded.

"Well…" Sarah looked at me uncertainly. "Okay. If that's what you really want. Just…Annabeth, please be careful with the guys that you choose –they might hurt you, cheat on you –because of what you are, not who you are."

I gave my stepmother a smile. "That won't happen. Well...I'm not even sure if that guy likes me anymore –he probably doesn't. It's fine. He likes this other girl, though he always insists that he doesn't. Which always fools me, but…I'm used to it now. Don't worry. My shows are getting better –I'm not going to freeze up there anytime soon."

She fidgeted around. "If you say so…"

"Wait," I said, remembering something about Sarah. She had been a famous television actress since she was six. "Didn't you get cheated by a guy before because he wanted money and fame?"

It took a while for her to answer. "Yes," she said finally. "Which is why I don't want to set you free yet. I didn't want you to get hurt by the people around you, so I guess I kind of got carried away, and started doing everything for you. Just a head start."

My heart softened. Sarah had been trying to protect me? _That_ was really surprising. "I'm almost an adult, Sarah. I can make my own choices for myself now."

She sighed. "Sometimes, it's just hard to let go after so many years that I've been your manager," she said, wiping a tear. I reached over and handed her a tissue.

"Sorry," she apologized, dotting her eyes. "My hormones are working up now –the baby's due soon."

I looked at Sarah –all the things that she did –was for me, not for her. "I'm sorry for thinking you were a terrible mother," I said, looking down.

She smiled. "That's the first time you haven't called me your _step_mother," she said, reaching over to give me a hug. I smiled and hugged her back (still careful not to bump into her belly, though).

"I meant it," I said, giving her shoulders a little squeeze. "I'll still need a manager to book my shows and handle the 'red carpet' stuff, though," I told her, pulling away. "As long as I make my own choices."

"Okay…" she said. "I set you free now –but you are still my stepdaughter. Which means…I have to support you, and you'll support me by listening to the reasonable things I say, okay?"

"Okay," I decided. "I will."

"So…" she said, putting her hands on her lap. "What was that song you were working on when I came in?"

"Oh…that?" I blushed.

"It sounded really good! Play it for me," she said, looking at me expectantly.

I gave in, because…because it felt good to have a mother.

I played the beginning, the notes melting together, intertwining to make a beautiful harmony.

_"Oh, oh…oh, oh," _I started singing.

"_You'll never realize the effect you have on me, no. _

_You'll never realize how much it hurts to see_

_What I have and what I don't…_

_I don't think that I have enough, oh_

_Because I don't have you yet_

_That thing you got is keeping me up, all, night_

_That thing you have is making me hold on tight,"_ I sang, then started on the chorus.

"_No matter how far we are apart_

_We still see the same stars_

_I keep on looking out for you_

_Even if we're really through_

_I'll never stop looking out for you." _I stopped. "That's all I have for now," I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

Sarah looked like she was trying not to let out a secret. "You know what, Annabeth? I think you still like him."

"What? No…" I tried to occupy myself by pretending to tune my guitar, which was already perfectly tuned.

"Of course you do!"

"Look, he likes someone else. Someone who has all the time in the world for him. I don't. I have to focus on my job," I said, on the key F#.

"Sounds like your convincing yourself," she said simply.

"Oh, I'm not," I said, putting my guitar pick between my teeth as I continued to "tune my guitar". _I won't allow you to like him_, my mind added.

She shrugged. "Maybe not yet." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully. Suddenly, her face turned. "Um, if you can excuse me, I'm a bit carsick now…" she gestured weakly towards the bathroom.

I laughed. "Okay, then."

**Sarah and Annabeth finally talk it through! Yay! What do you think will happen next? Read more to find out! –Sophia **


	30. Chapter 30

**Percy Pov**

School was finally over. I'd managed to survive finals (not sure about my scores), and it was finally summer.

"What's your plans?" my dad asked me one day during dinner.

"Um…well…" I tried to think of a good way to tell him that I wanted to go to an Annabeth Chase concert. He'd probably be really confused.

I knew that she probably didn't want to be with me anymore. I guess it probably seemed to her that I was a jerk, me always denying how I didn't like Rachel and then showing up together at a show holding hands. I wanted just one chance to apologize and tell her it wasn't like that. And…hopefully she would forgive me, violins would start playing, and we'd...okay, sorry. I'm getting lost.

I only wanted a chance to say I was sorry so she wouldn't think I was the way she thought I was. Then, I probably would leave, she would continue on her career, and then it'd be like nothing ever happened. Nothing big.

"You can call your girlfriend Rachel over," my mom suggested.

"She's not my girlfriend," I protested for the ten-thousandth time.

"Then why did you invite her over for our family dinner?" she asked, trying hard not to suppress a smile.

"I didn't invite her over! She just –" my cell phone beeped. _1 new text_, it read. I opened it, silently hoping it was from Annabeth (even though I deleted her contact, she might've kept mine, right?). Of course, it was from Rachel. She sent me a link, with _See? I told you she wasn't safe. Love you! 3 _

My dad raised his eyebrow, smiling. "Who's it from?"

"Oh, no one special," I dodged his question, shoving my phone into my pocket and promising to read it later.

He didn't look convinced, but decided to leave it alone. "Well, even if Rachel isn't your girlfriend, you can still invite her over. You two look pretty close," he said, making me want to pick up a chair and throw it on the ground.

"She's going to be at her beach house with her friend and this _other guy_," I lied, emphasizing _other guy_ on purpose. "For the whole summer."

"I see," he nodded, which was a relief.

It was quiet for a long time. I poked at my dinner, and finally gathered up my courage. "So…doyouthinkIcangotoanAnnabethChaseconcert?"

My dad's fork was halfway up to his mouth. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"

I blushed. There was no backing out now. "Um, can I go to an Annabeth Chase concert?"

I could tell my mom understood, but my dad looked at me funny. "Well, of course you can. But when did you start liking Annabeth Chase?"

"What? I don't have a crush on her," I said, not realizing what he meant. "I mean…I like her songs."

"Okay," he nodded. "So, what day?"

"Friday, and I'll be back by Sunday afternoon."

"Need a lift?"

"Er…it's in Los Angeles. Her concert, I mean," I said uneasily.

"What? That's almost a six hour drive," he said, uncertain now.

"I'm going by plane with…Piper, Hazel, and Jason. They're going too," I added quickly.

"Percy, I'm not sure I can let you go on a plane without a chaperone," he looked unsure.

"Dad, I'm almost 17," I complained. "I think I'm old enough. Jason was allowed to go."

He sighed. "If this is _just_ for a concert, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no."

"It's not just for a concert, it's for…" my voice trailed away. I looked at my mom, and some kind of understanding passed between us.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "Honey, I think Percy is old enough to handle this. For whatever reason of going to that concert…" she turned towards me and the hint of a smile crept up, "I'm sure he is mature enough and knows what he's doing."

"Sweetheart, a plane? You can't be serious. A plane, without an adult?" He shook his head.

My mom's uncle had died in a plane crash, and my dad had survived one. It was a close call, but he managed…I knew it was a touchy subject.

My mom sighed. "I know it's hard, but we have to give him some opportunities to grow up, right? This could be a mini test! Right?"

"Well…I suppose…"

"So you'll let me go?" I asked, feeling a little hopeful now.

"If you have your plane ticket," my dad said.

"I have it," I pulled it out of my pocket and showed them.

"You already have it? Wow, how did you earn the money?" my mom asked in amazement.

"I worked an extra five hours to sell more fish last week for three days," I said.

My dad finally gave in. "Okay, Percy. You can go Friday, then. Make sure you can handle everything," his eyes twinkled as he smiled.

p~p~p~p

In my room, I quickly reread the text Rachel sent me. _See? I told you she wasn't safe. Love you! 3 _I pressed on the link, which had an article that read: _Annabeth Chase, the Snake in the Grass _

_ Seems like we all know who the "snake in the grass" is, huh? Annabeth Chase, teen celeb, had slithered away to San Francisco just a few months ago. _

_ "I never knew that she was such a backstabber!" Rachel Dare, a student from Goode High, reports. "Stealing everything of mine!"_

_ "I brought in my camera one day, you know, to turn in the yearbook photos. She started backing away from me as if I had a fatal disease! I mean, seriously! Get together!" ~Name Withheld~ said._

_ "I was so confused at first. I asked if she had a pen, since I needed it for English, and she signed her signature on my paper! She thinks she's soooo famous. Famous for being a brat!" ~Name Withheld~ said. _

_ We know that she recently broke up with Luke Castellan, that cutie! They've been together for so long –what could she have done to make him so mad? They say they are just friends, but they hardly talk at all to each other now. People are noticing that they broke up right after she came back from CA. Was the school incident the cause?_

_ Later, she'd started dating Harry Styles, from One Direction. That image taken that afternoon showed that she was completely uninterested in him. Harry had given her everything, and yet she'd given him nothing. Why does she have to be so cruel?_

_ "Oh, I'm not surprised she's getting dumped by everyone," Drew Tanaka, another student from Goode High School, laughs. "That backstabbing, attention grabbing maggot! She gets what she deserves!"_

My fists clenched together as I continued to read.

_ "I saw her exchanging breath mints with a football player under the bleachers," ~Name Withheld~ said. "Without any hands!" _

_ "I asked her one day if she was dating anybody, and she said she wasnt. Liar! She was dating Luke at the time. So much for thinking she was going to be my girlfriend-to-be," ~Name Withheld~ rants._

_ Well, "the snake in the grass" sure is attacking these poor, broken hearted high school students at Goode High. To see more complaints, go to the link on our website, posted on the home page. Ssssstay tuned for more sssslithering sneakinessss!_

_Written by Dalia Chackersnick_

I gritted my teeth. Why would they do this to Annabeth? I bit my lip in frustration and threw my phone on my desk. "Whoops," I muttered, picking it up and checking for damage. Nothing seemed to be broken, though it knocked aside a few papers on my desk. I arranged them neatly in a pile and put them back where they came from. As I was about to go downstairs to get the charger, I stopped, and picked up the top paper. It was a piece of old scrap paper from math tutoring. On it was Annabeth's neat handwriting, explaining what pi was.

"It's a number that goes on forever and ever," Annabeth had said.

"And ever?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

She laughed. "Forever and ever and ever…" she said, drawing an infinity sign on the paper.

I smiled, remembering that day. Suddenly, I realized that forever and ever (and ever) was the way I wanted Annabeth and me.

**Finally done! Sorry –this is the second time I'm writing this chapter –when I was just done, everything got deleted, and I had to start all over! I hate when that happens! Anyways, how'd you guys like this chapter? Higher than average, I hope! So, a quick fanfic question: What's your favorite PJO book? Mine's The Last Olympian, because it has a lot of drama and action ;) -Sophia**


	31. Chapter 31

**Annabeth Pov**

_Forever_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I hope you'll stay by my side_

_Forever…_

_Sing like there's nothing to fear_

_Forever…_

_There's nothing to be afraid of, as long as we're together forever_

"I'm David Charleston, the assistant manager of the Record Company," he held out his hand, and I shook it.

"Nice to meet you," I said, Sarah shaking his hand as well.

"Now, I need to talk to Sarah about a few complications the company might be having, which will result to moving," he said. "We're going to have a meeting with the manager for just a few hours. Do you mind looking after my daughter Allie for a little bit?" a little girl no older than 5 peeked out from behind him, holding something that I couldn't quite figure out.

"Of course," I nodded.

"Thank you," he smiled. Then he whispered, "I don't want her to mess around and distract me during the meeting." I laughed in return. "Okay, then. Allie, Annabeth's going to stay with you while her mom and I talk about the record company, okay sweetie?"

She finally came out from behind her father, and I realized she was holding a few barbies in her hand. "Okay then," she agreed, as he patted Allie on the head, and he and Sarah went up the see-through stairs. Wow, this place was so huge and grand –I felt bad that they were going to have to sell the building and move. The stairs and walls had just got renovated, and they had added another elevator.

"So…Allie, do you want to sit over there?" I pointed to the sofa over at the lobby. She nodded, and we walked over and sat down.

She waited, as if I was supposed to do something entertaining.

"Okay then…so, do you want to play with your barbies?" I asked, looking down at them, which were lying in her lap. She nodded and handed a blonde one to me.

"Um…okay. So let's say this one likes to…go to the playground!" I put up the barbie's hands and swung her in a side to side motion, as if she were on a swing.

"No," Allie took that one from me. "That one's supposed to have a really lot of boyfriends," she said, her bad grammar making me smile. "And this one is supposed to like to go to the movies." She gestured towards another one dressed in a bathing suit.

"This one's supposed to have a lot of boyfriends?" I said uncertainly, pointing to the blonde and wondering who was influencing her with this. "No, how about she's supposed to only have _one_ boyfriend," I said, taking Ken from her and making them hold hands. I struggled at bit, though finally I managed to have them next to each other, only touching hands. Apparently, barbies had hands that were always in a weird position.

I stared at the Ken doll. Why do they have to always have blonde hair and blue eyes? Couldn't they have black hair, or at least green eyes instead? Later, as my thoughts registered, I shook my head. _Annabeth, what are you thinking? Stop it! _

"Okay," I said, breaking away from my thoughts. "What was I saying? Oh yeah –I think Barbie should just stick with Ken."

"Really?" she looked at me, her face unsure. "My mommy had a lot of boyfriends."

I put down the dolls softly. "Is that so?"

She nodded, as she tucked a strand of her curly brown hair behind her ear. "Yeah. She has a lot of them. One time when we visited her, she had another boy at her house. Daddy got a lot angry."

"Oh," I said, looking down at the blonde Barbie. "I'm sorry."

"Does your mommy have a lot of boyfriends?" She asked me as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Actually, no, she doesn't. My mommy isn't here anymore…she's in the sky," I said softly, looking at the dolls.

"Oh," she looked up at the ceiling. "How does she get down?"

"Oh…she doesn't," I forced a smile. "She likes to stay there."

"Why does she want to stay in the clouds?" Allie asked, looking confused. "It's boring up there."

"Well, actually, there's a big palace up there," I said, making something up. "It's for only the most powerful and great human beings…"

"Wow…" Allie gazed up at the ceiling. "I wanna go up to the sky now. Like your mommy. Wait…isn't Sarah your mommy? She's not in the sky now."

"Sarah's my stepmother, actually. My dad got remarried with her," I told her.

She gasped. "You have an evil stepmother like Cinderella?"

I laughed. "Not all stepmothers are evil. In fact, mine's really nice," I said.

She glanced cautiously upstairs. "Oh."

"Er –let's play with your barbies now," I said, trying to switch the subject."Okay, so…let's pretend that these two only like each other, okay? They don't have any _other boyfriends_," I stated, hoping finally it would rub off Allie and she would realize that…people were only supposed to date one person at a time. I wouldn't want her to grow up to be like her mother.

"Okay," she said, taking Barbie and Ken away from me. She made them hug each other (more like putting their arms around their shoulders –it's hard to make them hug) and dance with each other. "Wait, I've got one more," she said, turning around and getting another doll. It was Prince Charming from Cinderella. "Now Barbie likes Prince Charming." She took Barbie away from Ken and made her hug Prince Charming instead.

"No no no," I said, grabbing Barbie back to Ken. "How about Prince Charming is _just_ a friend, okay?"

She frowned, but said, "Okay."

"Okay. Now, how about Barbie and Ken are going to the beach together to see fireworks?" I asked Allie, putting Prince Charming behind my back for now.

"Oohh! Okay! Wait a second…" she rummaged around the sofa and took out a bag filled with mini Barbie clothes. "Let's change Ken into his bathing suit! You take off his pants and –"

"No, I'm fine! I mean, I'm sure Ken can go to the beach without his swim trunks, and Barbie can stay in her blouse and jeans," I said frantically, snatching the bag of clothes away from Allie.

"Okay. I guess they can't go swimming, then…" she said mournfully.

"I guess…well, it's fine, right? Ken doesn't like water," I said quickly.

"Ken doesn't like water? That's not good! Well…" she looked behind her and took out another doll. "His name is Peter, and Peter likes water," she said, holding it up for me to see. He had black hair and green eyes…

"Well, shouldn't Ken stick with Barbie still?" my cheeks reddened, though I didn't know why. "How about Peter is just a friend of hers, and that's all. They are not dating –"

"Actually, I don't like Ken anymore," she said, throwing him on the table. "Let's say that Barbie likes Peter now."

"Erm…" I glanced towards Ken. "Okay then." I watched awkwardly as Allie made Peter and Barbie dance together.

I looked through all her barbies –she had a lot. She saw me looking through and joined me, introducing them to me. "This one's Nicole –she likes to go shopping a lot. This one's Valerie –she likes daydreaming. I don't know why…" she went through at least twenty dolls. "This one's Raquelle. I don't like her though, because she's old now. I got her last last last year," she explained, holding up a red headed barbie that definitely looked old –it had a sticky stain on her arm and pencil marks on her face.

"I see," I said, watching Sarah, David and another guy come down the stairs. Allie didn't notice, and continued introducing me to her dolls. David held his finger up to his lips as he sneaked behind Allie, covering his hands over her eyes.

"Guess who?" he asked in a falsetto.

"Daddy!" she squealed, jumping up over the sofa to hug him.

I smiled, watching her laugh with joy.

"I played Barbies with Annabeth!" she said, showing her dad Peter and Barbie.

The other person was talking with my stepmom, and she looked a bit concerned.

I went over to them. "So, how was the meeting?"

Sarah quickly stopped talking. "Oh, Annabeth! Didn't notice you…the meeting was wonderful."

The man she was talking to held out his hand. "I'm Thomas, the manager of the record company. Is this the Annabeth Chase everyone's talking about?" He smiled, as I shook his hand. "You definitely don't look like what everyone is saying," he stated.

I raised my eyebrows. "I don't look like myself?" I joked, as he laughed.

"My grandchildren are huge fans of you, may I say. It's a pleasure," he said.

I smiled. "It's an honor to have such supportive fans like them," I said sincerely.

Sarah cleared her throat. "Um, Annabeth, do you mind playing with Allie for a few more minutes? We need to discuss a really urgent matter," she said, looking a bit worried but trying to hide it.

"Sure," I said, heading back to Allie and wondering what the urgent matter was.

**Hey everyone! I'm updating today because I won't be available Friday through Sunday, because I'll be really busy! So, how was the chapter? I hope you guys liked it! Now, I have two questions for you guys today (thanks to everyone who reviewed and answered my question for the last chapter) :Favorite PJO or HOO character? Mine's definitely Percy. I just think he's the sweetest guy ever! Okay, next question –what was your favorite chapter so far in this story? (Just gives me an idea of what you guys like.) Comment and review ;)Thanks, and take care! –Sophia **


	32. Chapter 32

**Percy Pov**

"Everyone have their suitcases?" Piper asked me, Hazel, and Jason. We nodded, as we pulled our trolleys onward into line.

"I can't wait!" Hazel exclaimed, making everyone in front of us turn around.

"Wait –Piper, did you see where my ticket went? I put it in my bag…let me check –no…did it end up in yours?" Jason patted his pockets and unlatched his briefcase, flipping over everything.

Piper checked her handbag, unzipping the pocket. "Here," she said, handing the ticket over to him. "How did it end up there?"

He took it, looking relieved. "I have no idea. Must've accidentally put it in there."

The people behind us grunted. "Oh, sorry," I quickly apologized, as we moved up the line.

"5:18," Jason notified us. "We have about an hour left until our flight takes off. We'll get to Los Angeles in two hours, at the most. Show is Saturday, right?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

He scratched his head. "Okay. Ellie asked me to get her an autograph. Need to make sure I don't forget. She also asked if I could ask Annabeth if she ever had pasta with ketchup, but…I'm going to pass on that one."

We finally dropped off our luggage and headed in the next line for a security check.

"Place your bags in here," the man said, passing us a few bins. We plopped them in, then walked through the metal detectors. As Hazel walked through, alarms started wailing.

"Shoot," she cursed, checking her pockets. "Forgot." She pulled out what looked like a nugget of gold and a bar of silver, handing them to the security guards. "Sorry," she apologized.

All of us had to go through another fifteen minute check because of it, and before we knew it, we had twenty minutes left.

"We need to hurry," Piper urged, as we raced to the departure lounge, which was at the other side of the terminal. We let the woman double check our tickets, then sat down on the seats to wait.

"Everyone have your tickets?" Hazel asked. "Don't tell me you don't have your ticket, Jason. Please don't tell me that."

"I just had it when I showed the lady…hm…maybe I put it in my back pocket," he searched everywhere. "Maybe I dropped it somewhere –I'll go look," he said, starting to stand up.

Piper stood up. "I'll go with you, in case," she said, brushing invisible dirt off her jeans.

They left, argued with the ticket lady, and then disappeared off somewhere to the left to find his ticket.

"Five minutes till plane takes flight –everyone going to Los Angeles can come onboard," the loudspeaker sounded through our section. Everyone shuffled to get their bags, and started entering the tarmac.

"Why is Jason and Piper taking so long?" Hazel asked, a bit of panic rising in her throat.

"They'll come soon," I reassured her. "Let's just wait for another minute or two."

Three minutes later –still didn't come.

"You two have to board the plane," one of the ladies told us. "It'll be leaving in two minutes, unless you want to miss your flight."

"But we have to wait for our friends –they'll be here as soon as possible," I said, not caring that I sounded frantic, and looked over to check if they were coming back yet.

She glanced over too, checking. "Well, they'll just have to miss it. Maybe they'll come later –but you two must board the plane first," she said, adjusting her glasses.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we really need to –" Hazel started to say.

"I'm sorry, but we have to clear the departure lounge for the next plane leaving."

We reluctantly entered the tarmac, and gave our tickets to the man. "Seats B38 and B39 –on your left," he pointed, as we headed in that direction.

"Where is Piper and Jason?" Hazel hissed. "They're going to miss this flight!"

"I'll call them," I said, picking up my phone and starting to dial the number.

"Cell phones off, please," one of the flight attendants reminded. "We're about to take flight."

I sighed and turned it off.

"Hello passengers! Welcome aboard to the XXX Airlines! Please have your seatbelts fastened and stay put in your seats as we take off! Make sure all electronic devices are turned off until we are in the sky, as we head off to Los Angeles!" The speaker blared through the plane.

"What now? We're about to take off, and they're still not here!" Hazel looked worried.

"I don't know –maybe they'll come at the last minute," I said, trying to convince myself as well as her.

The plane started to move.

"Okay, we're doomed," Hazel moaned, looking at the empty seats next to her –B40 and B41.

"When we arrive, we'll call them. They'll find another flight, hopefully. We have time –the show starts tomorrow at night," I told her.

She still looked worried, but relaxed her shoulders. "Okay then."

The flight attendant came around with cookies, pastries, and different beverages, but we passed. We both weren't in the mood to eat anything.

Hazel gave a frustrated groan. "Why did Jason have to lose his ticket and make everything so complicated!"

"It's fine…Piper's with him. She'll know what to do," I said, hoping I was right.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker sounded through the plane. "Hello passengers, hope you are well. We will be landing a little earlier than expected –in San Jose."

Everyone around us groaned. I was still a little confused, and it took me a moment to decipher.

"I'm going to miss my niece's wedding!" Someone behind us sighed.

"Unfortunately, a thunderstorm is headed our way. We will be pleased to house you in nearby hotels or lead you to car rentals until then. Thank you, and have a nice day as we prepare for landing. Please stay seated and buckle your seatbelts –thanks."

Hazel's eyes widened. "San Jose?! How –then –Piper –Jason –oh no," she closed her eyes. "This is terrible."

_I'm doing this for Annabeth, doing this for Annabeth_, my mind reminded.

p~p~p~p

We headed over to the baggage reclaim and went to the carousel to get our suitcases. "Oh look, here's Piper's and Jason's," she said, taking them off.

I saw my dark blue one coming –missed it twice though, and had to wait for it to come around again until I finally lugged it off.

When we finally got all our luggage, I dialed Piper's number. Thank goodness –she picked up.

"Percy! Oh my gosh where are you?"

"We're…kind of in San Jose," I winced.

"_What_?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Thunderstorm came our way –have to wait until after. How are you guys going to come?"

"I'm going to call Frank," Hazel stood up and excused herself politely. I nodded, and continued listening to Piper.

She sighed heavily. "Next flight doesn't leave until two days! By the time we get there, the show will be over! I would call my dad to pick us up, but, he's working on his movie and has no time. I'm also definitely going to get in trouble."

"You have no way to come to San Francisco by tomorrow?"

"After an hour of arguing with the ticket lady, I think we have no hope. We'll just wait at the airport until you guys come back."

"Yeah, that's not likely. We have no idea how long we'll stay in San Jose now. Hazel and I are probably going to stay at the airport until how ever long we have to wait."

"Percy, thunderstorms are going to be raging on the whole night and most of tomorrow."

"I know, but I'm going to get in huge trouble by my mom and dad. We have to try –we can reach Los Angeles, right?"

**Hey everyone! Well, thanks for all your reviews –just went camping, and was sooo glad to see all of them! Anyways, to answer one of your questions –Did I see the Sea of Monsters yet? I have to say, I haven't yet. I'd like to watch it, of course. I think the first movie was good as a movie in general, but a lot of things were changed and misinterpreted, which I have a feeling is going to go the same way as the second. It's not exactly the same as the book, and I saw a few reviews that said many scenes from the book weren't added. Other than that, I think it's a good movie to watch! Comment what you think about the PJO movies! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and leave a review if you can! (though I don't have to remind you guys –you all are AMAZING at doing that!) –Sophia **


	33. Chapter 33

**Annabeth Pov**

_It's Real_

_Album: The Story of Me_

_I knew that when we first met_

_The clouds faded away_

_I knew that sound across the distance_

_Like a bird calling from afar_

_And from that moment, I thought_

_It's real_

Sarah wasn't feeling so great these days. She was mostly in her bunk, lying down. The baby would be due in about a month. I had to handle everything on my own –which was tough.

"Annabeth! I have a question!"

"Ms. Chase, would you like some tea?"

"Annabeth, there's a mistake in this piece!"

"Coming!" I yelled, scrambling up to get a few papers. Not looking where I was going, I bumped into the ledge on the wall. "Ow," I mumbled, rubbing my forehead. My cell phone started ringing, and I reached into my pocket to get it, which led to spilling the papers. "Darn it," I said, as I answered the call.

"Hi, this is Annabeth Chase."

"Hello, this is Natalie. I'm calling about your interview you missed this morning," a brisk voice said.

"Interview?" I asked, on the floor, picking up the scattered papers and holding the cell phone by pressing it with my ear to my shoulder. "Ouch," I said, bumping my head into the coffee table.

"The interview about your hit song, _Be Yourself_," Natalie reminded.

"Oh…I thought that was in the afternoon," I said, organizing the papers.

"Annabeth, there's a mistake in this piece!"

"Later, Tony!" I called. "I'm busy! Um, sorry about that," I quickly apologized to her.

"You rescheduled the interview to the morning last night," she said.

I groaned silently. I'd forgotten that. "I'm so sorry –can I reschedule it to tomorrow? Wait…no, I'm have to go to a talk show. How about…next week? I'm going to California…oh wait…I'm on the Ellen Show. It'll have to be canceled for now."

I heard her give an exasperated sigh. Finally, she canceled it and hung up.

I hung up, feeling a little light headed, and went over to Tony.

"What's the mistake?" I asked.

"You added two extra eighth notes to this measure –now there's five quarters. You're supposed to only have four quarters," he handed me the paper.

I squinted. "Oh, I did," I said, grabbing the pencil on the desk and erasing the mistake. I carefully corrected it, double checked the count, and handed it back. "Here."

I raced over to Mike. "What did you need?"

"Oh. I had a question, but I figured it out already," he said, placing his guitar pick on his bunk.

My phone rang again, and I sighed. "Just a second."

"Hi, this is Annabeth Chase," I said for at least ten thousand times this morning.

"Hello, Annabeth. This is Tessa. How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"That's great. Now, we're wondering if you're ready to do your soundcheck here in Los Angeles."

"What?" I yelped. "Los Angeles?"

"Yes, you booked a show for tonight in Los Angeles. We need to have a quick check with the microphones and the lighting –"

"No no no, I think there's a mistake. I booked the show in Los Angeles _next_ Saturday –tonight I have a show in Nashville. Right now, my tour bus is heading to Tennessee."

"Is that so? Hm…let me check…well, who's your agent?"

"Sarah –she's my manager and agent, but right now, I'm filling her in. Look under the name Chase."

"Chase…a…b…c…here you are. We have you this Saturday –you must've accidentally misspoken. The stage is all set up already and your fans have already bought your tickets –do you think you can get to Los Angeles?"

I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself done. _Who am I kidding? I can't handle this all on my own…_

_ Anyways, I just want to tell you that you're going to be responsible for your own matters. You're going to have to handle a lot on your own, now, _Sarah had told me before I went on tour, when she'd first told me she was going to have a baby –which she had for a while already.

"Tessa, I'm so sorry, but there's no way I can get from here to Los Angeles by tonight –that'll take a day and eight hours."

I could hear her sigh. "It's going to be disappointing to your fans –everything was already set up –but I suppose, if you really can't…" her voice trailed away. "We'll call it off then."

"Thank you," I said. "Can you book the show in Los Angeles for next Saturday?"

"I'll do that right away," she said, and I could hear papers shuffling. "Next Saturday, right?" she asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

a~a~a~a

After a whole hour of more phone calls, I finally had the rest of the day off.

I knocked on Sarah's door. "Come in," she said weakly.

The door gave a little squeak as I opened it. "Brought you some tea," I said, balancing the tray as I closed the door. "With honey and cream on the side."

She looked at it like it was the most wonderful thing in the world. "Thank _you_, Annabeth! Oh my gosh, I'm starving."

"You need to control your food cravings now," I told her, handing her the cup. "You're  
hormones are working up –the other night after you ordered a meal enough for an army, you wouldn't stop throwing up."

She glanced at her stomach. "Stop kicking." I laughed, and she did as well.

"Good news from the doctor?" I asked her.

"She says so far so good –a healthy baby is developing," she smiled and took a sip. "I need to do some baby shopping."

"That'll be fun –you need to know if it's a girl or boy first, though."

"Well, I hope it'll be a baby boy –Frederick wants it to be a girl," she shrugged.

"Why does dad want it to be a girl?"

She sighed. "Well, since he'll be traveling everywhere –if it's a girl, I can take care of it –if it's a boy, he'll have to play football with him or something, which he won't have time for."

"I see."

"How about you? Girl or boy?"

"Well…" I thought about it. It'd be fun having a little sister and a brother –sister, I'd be able to play with her and teach her everything –brother, I could…I don't know –play Pokémon with him? Maybe not that.

"I don't know," I said at last.

**Do ****_you_**** know? Vote now, I just put a poll up! Boy or girl? Sorry for the kind of short chapter! (Hope you liked it –I always say that, do I?) Here's a fanfic question for you –favorite couple in PJO or HOO? Mine is…Percabeth! (You probably already guessed that) Percabeth forever! (sorry to those who ship Perachel) Comment your fav couple below! –Sophia **


	34. Chapter 34

**Percy Pov**

So, here I was, in the airport, waiting for the thunderstorms to pass. It was already Saturday –the day of the show.

"We'll get to Los Angeles," Hazel kept muttering to herself. "We'll get to Los Angeles in time."

After another hour, I was really starting to lose hope. "Let's go over to the front desk," I suggested. "Maybe they can tell us when they'll get us on another flight."

We groaned as we got up from the bench (of course, not sleeping for a whole night took up most of our energy) and headed over to the desk in the airport.

"Hello, how may I help you?" the lady asked kindly.

"Hi –we'd like to know when we will be getting on a plane to Los Angeles," Hazel said in her 'sophisticated' and 'formal' tone.

The lady checked her computer. She clicked her mouse a few times, and frowned. "Hm, wait a minute…oh! There's a flight at 3:00 –"

Hazel and I looked excitedly at each other.

" –oh wait, that's not for today. Let me see the schedules…" she typed a few words on the keyboard. She looked sympathetically at us. "I'm afraid thunderstorms are going to be filling the entire day. I could get you two a flight in three days, though –"

"Are you sure there's nothing?" I asked, feeling a bit of desperation rise in my throat. No flight until three days –we were surely doomed.

She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Nothing."

We both sighed as we moved aside to let the next people in line go in front.

"What are we going to do now?" she asked, her shoulders slumped, dragging her suitcase along.

Someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned around suspiciously. It was a man –a bit higher than middle aged, with a boy that was about 17.

"Er –hi," I said, a little confused.

"Excuse me, but do you know where the baggage reclaim is?" he asked.

I pointed in the direction, and he smiled. "Oh yes! Thank you very much –my son and I are off to San Francisco –you?"

"Well, we're not sure where we're off to now –our flight got cancelled," Hazel explained. "We were supposed to go to Los Angeles."

"That's a shame," the man said, sighing. "I'm Rick. Rick Riordan, nice to meet you." He held out his hand to me and Hazel, and we shook it. "My son Haley," he introduced, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm Percy. Percy Jackson," I told them.

"Hazel Levesque," Hazel smiled politely.

"What unique names," Mr. Riordan took out a little notepad and started jotting notes down.

"So," I said, trying to close the awkward silence as he jotted a few notes. "Do you like taking notes?"

Hazel glared at me. I looked back innocently at her.

"Me?" he asked as he finally put it in his pocket. "Oh, no. I'm an author, actually."

"Oh, I see," I nodded.

"So, how are you two going to get back home?" he asked, looking a bit concerned.

"We actually are still waiting for our friends Piper and Jason –they missed their flight," I told him, pushing down my suitcase handle. "They're back in San Francisco, still."

"Well, I've got a bit of time now – three hours until my next flight. I have a car, if you're really desperate to get to Los Angeles. You guys can have it, see, I'm actually trying to get rid of it," he offered.

Hazel's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Of course, I'll show you guys the way." We followed him out the door, into the parking lot.

p~p~p~p

What stood before us was an old blue mustang, the seats tattered and old.

Mr. Riordan plopped the keys into my hands. "All yours," he smiled.

Well, not the best car, but better than nothing. "Thank you so much," I said gratefully, nodding to him.

We thanked him and his son once more as they wished us good luck, and they went back to the airport.

"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Hazel asked me as I sat down on the driver's seat and pushed the key into the slot.

"Couldn't be any different than driving a regular car," I said, as the engine started. The car gave a little grunt, and the lights came on. I slowly backed up out of the parking spot carefully.

Hazel suddenly yelled, "There's Piper and Jason!" She pointed to a bus that was just unloading.

"Where?" I asked, my eyes searching.

"There!"

I saw them. They looked mousy and tired, pulling their suitcases towards the airport. I drove towards the drop off area and let Hazel go to get them. Minutes later, we were helping them put their suitcases in the trunk (not all of them ended up fitting, so we had to squeeze them into the back seats).

"You guys came to San Jose in a bus?" I asked, driving away as they finally settled in the back.

Piper blew her hair out of her face. "It smelled terrible! Someone brought a pig on the way –I guess animals were allowed on it," she said, taking her hair out and braiding it again.

"It took an extra two hours to get here –because it ran out of gas and we had to move into a different bus," Jason said, taking his jacket off.

"Well, it'll take five hours to drive to Los Angeles, so, you guys can get comfortable," I said, as I stopped at a red light.

p~p~p~p

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Hazel asked, as I entered a forest-y path.

"I think so," I said, turning the headlights on. The rain made it hard to see through the windshield, and the wiper blades wouldn't work.

We've been driving for at least six hours –and we still weren't there. It was getting a little darker, and I couldn't see very well.

Piper frowned. "I don't see any other cars on this road. Percy, you _do_ know how to get to Los Angeles, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, trying to hide the worry in my voice. _Doing this for Annabeth, doing this for Annabeth,_ I thought. That was the only thing that kept me going. "I know where I'm going –just another five miles, and we'll be there. What time is it now –we have to get there by six, show starts at seven."

"Oh, it's only _five thirty seven_," Hazel stated sarcastically. "Sure, we'll get there in time."

I drove on for what seemed like forever.

"Hey Percy, do you want me to drive now?" Jason asked from the back.

I stopped the car. "Yeah, you drive," I decided, stepping out of the car and going into the back, joining Piper.

Jason frowned. "Can this thing go on any faster?" he complained, as he started driving. We were going at least less a quarter of a mile per hour. "Why isn't there a GPS thingy on here? We're really lost, now."

I reached into the back seat pocket and pulled out a dusty map. We had a little trouble reading it, but in about twenty minutes, we were back on the highway.

The car started slowing down, and Jason stamped on the gas pedal. We were now in Bakersfield, in the city. "Why isn't this…oh no…" he struggled to bring the car to the curb as it shrieked and slowed to a stop.

"Um, where did you get this car?" Piper asked suspiciously.

"From a guy - his name was Rick, or something," I told her.

She groaned. "You can't just take a car from someone!"

"He seemed pretty nice," I said, looking over at Hazel, who was sleeping. She wasn't here to help me.

"Alright…everybody out of the car," Jason said, as Piper woke Hazel up.

"Where are we –we're out of the forest, in the middle of a city," Hazel rubbed her eyes and looked around. "And the car broke down? Jason –"

"Better than being stuck in a forest," he stated, as we all agreed, even me.

"So…how do we plan on getting to Los Angeles?" Hazel asked.

Everyone was quiet as we tried to think.

"There's no way we'll get to Los Angeles tonight –we'll have to find someplace to stay," I said, starting to unload the trunk with our suitcases and bags.

"My dad is going to kill me," Piper sighed.

"Well, now we have no car," Hazel looked mournfully at the mustang. As if on cue, the car tilted on an angle, and the passenger seat door fell off.

I looked at my watch. Past seven o'clock already. Tomorrow, it'd be Sunday, and Annabeth would be touring at a different city. But I wasn't going to give up.

"Let's first find a hotel, and then we'll see what we'll do," I said, sounding confident. "Let's put our money together and see what we get." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of twenty dollar bills. Everyone else did the same. "We have enough for about two nights. We'll use the leftovers for transportation and keep enough money for plane tickets."

I dialed my mom's cell phone number, and held it up to my ear, pacing back and forth on the sidewalk. "Hello?" my mom's voice rang.

"Mom! It's me, Percy," I said, thankful she'd answered.

I could imagine her face light up. "Percy! Oh my goodness sweetie, how are you? I wasn't expecting any calls from you, since, you know, I thought you'd be busy –"

"Erm, mom –"

" –speaking of that, did you meet Annabeth yet? It's almost nine o'clock –ooooh, did you talk to her yet? Did you –"

"Mom –"

"Tell her I said hi! Bring home some pictures! And make sure -"

"Mom. I'm probably not going to get to talk to her."

At that, she stopped talking. "Why? Too many people there?"

"No –I'm probably not going to see her, either."

"What?" I heard the excitement in her voice drop.

"Yeah –our flight got delayed, so we had to stop at San Jose yesterday. And, um, I got a car –"

"You _bought_ a _car_?"

"Well, someone gave it to me –"

"Someone gave you a _car_?"

"Er –yeah. But that's not the point. The point is, it broke down in Bakersfield, and now, we're stuck here. So, our plan is, we stay here for two nights, then we take a train to Los Angeles. The show's going to be over –we're only going there because there's a bigger airport, and flights will go out sooner. I'll be back home by next Sunday, by the latest."

My mom was silent for a long time. Finally, she said, "I'm so proud of you, Percy. You're growing up now, and even though you've had many obstacles, you're still counting on the next day, and not giving up. I wish I was with you right now, so I could help you."

I blushed. "Thanks, mom."

"You're not sad about Annabeth?"

"…no."

"Sure?"

"Um…yeah."

"Okay, then," she said. "Bye honey. See you soon," she said.

"Bye mom," I said, and hung up, then went to join the others. "Did you find a hotel?" I asked Hazel.

"Yeah," she pointed down the block. "It's right over there."

We walked over, and went inside.

**Hey guys! Enjoyed this chapter? Hope you did! Now, so far five people want Sarah's child to be a boy, four want it to be a girl! Vote –poll's up! Please review for this chapter –I'd love to hear what you guys think! I'm going to be updating a little slower than unusual since September's coming up –yeah, school. But no worries, I'll update at least once or maybe even twice a week! To all my followers and viewers –thanks to reading all the way up to Chapter 34! I know a lot of people only read up to chapter 16 or something, and then they go back, but you guys have gone through all –and it means a lot to me. Thanks again, and now, for your question: Do you think anyone will die in the House of Hades? If so, who? Now, I'm not sure I can answer that question –hehe, but ****_you_**** guys can tell me what you think! –Sophia **


	35. Chapter 35

**Annabeth Pov**

_The Story of Me TOUR_

_Concert: Saturday, July 27 _

**_Please note -NOT THE 20_****_th_****_ (It seems that it was accidentally booked on the wrong date. Sorry for the inconvenience –call front desk for any questions) _**

_Place: Los Angeles, California_

_Time: 7:00 -9:30_

_Buy your tickets online now! _

_See you then!_

It was Tuesday, and we were on our way to Los Angeles, California.

"I already told Tessa to switch the show I accidentally booked last Saturday to this Saturday," I informed Sarah, who was on her bunk, relaxing. I straightened the pillows (she had a suite on the tour bus) on her couch.

She sat up with a bit of difficulty. "So all your fans are notified of this?"

"Yes," I told her. "I posted it on the website, and I think everyone's checking," I checked my phone. _1,993,764 comments_ already. I scrolled down, looking through briefly. "Yup," I confirmed, and used a napkin to wipe some of the dust off the table that had gathered over the last month.

Sarah nodded. "Okay. Well, I have some news, good and bad. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Um…" I stopped cleaning her room and thought for a second. "Good? Actually, bad. Well, no, I guess I'll take the good news first."

"Good news first. Okay. So, I went to the doctor, and… they found out that I'm having twins!"

My mouth dropped open. "But you have four weeks until you're due!"

She laughed. "It was definitely a surprise –usually, in about six weeks you'd find out, but, now you'll have two siblings! Won't that be great?"

I was so excited I could hardly speak. Two baby siblings! "I can't wait!"

"Well, now, here's the bad news," she said cautiously. I inhaled, bracing myself for the worst.

"The record company," she started.

I gripped my finger. "Yes?"

"Well, as I've told you before, they've decided to move," Sarah looked at me. "Which means _we_ are going to move. With them. In two months."

I gulped. "Two months?"

"Yes, two months. We'll need to cut your tour short, so next Saturday's show will be your last one for _The Story of Me_ tour. The record company has decided to move to…" she took a deep breath. "San Francisco, California."

It took me about forever to register. Saturday, last show for tour. Record company moving. Two months time. Going to move with them to…_San Francisco, California_? What? I dropped the napkin that I'd used for wiping the dust off and froze.

"San Francisco…America?" I asked, forgetting that I was supposed to breathe.

"Well, where else in the world is there a San Francisco that's in a state called California?" she said.

My heart stopped. I was going to move to San Francisco. What? I was going to move to San Francisco? I was going to move to San Francisco. I was going to move to _San Francisco._

"Wait. I'm going to _move to San Francisco_?"

"Yes."

"Like, _California_, the state under Oregon, next to Nevada, and on top of Mexico?"

"Yes."

"You mean, the place we went to a few mo –"

"Yes, Annabeth. San Francisco, in California, in America, the state under Oregon, next to Nevada, and on top of Mexico, the place we went a few months ago."

My heart continued working again. In fact, a little too much, which made me get overexcited. "Really? Oh my gosh, San Francisco?" I could possibly go back to Goode High again. I could see Piper, Hazel, Thalia, Silena…I could…I could…

_Be with Percy, _one side of my mind whispered.

_Oh no you didn't! _the other side argued.

Sarah didn't seem like it was good news. She was looking at it the other way. "We have to sell our house in two months. Then buy a new one. Also, Tony, Mike, Tiffany, and Cassie will have to come with us, we need to cancel all of your interviews and photo shoots in London…it's going to be so expensive…so much to do…" she sighed. "You seem happy to be going to California." She gave me a questioning look.

"Oh, I'm just…you know, tired of London," I said. "I don't even have a British accent, I mean…since in all my movies I play an American girl, I'm used to…American. Style. Um, yeah. American style." I struggled with my explanation.

"American Style?" Sarah looked confused.

"Er –yeah, I'm used to an American Style," I nodded trying to sound as natural as possible. "So, I'm excited to finally be an American! And use…American Style," I improvised.

She still looked a little puzzled, but got over it. "Annabeth, we have so much to do, and I'm due in a month –I won't have any time, especially with _two_ kids to look after…"

"We'll manage," my faith increased. "We definitely can."

a~a~a~a

"There's a few people who's interested in our house," I updated. It was now Thursday, which meant we were almost at Los Angeles –we had today and Friday to get there.

Sarah looked over my shoulder. "Well, that's something," she said. "Normally, no one would look twice at a three million dollar house –"

"Unless they're really rich," I finished for her. "Our realtor is helping us find a suitable house, and these are the choices." I clicked on a few links.

"How about this one?" I scrolled down and clicked on a house.

Sarah wrinkled her nose. "Nah. I don't like the color. How about that one?" she pointed to a white one that looked like a copy of the White House.

I shook my head. "I don't think so –that'll draw a lot of attention."

"Wait –look at that one." Sarah took the mouse from me and clicked on another one of the choices. It wasn't that fancy, not that big either (well, okay, it was pretty big), and was…10 minutes away from Goode High School!

"I like this one," I said immediately, straightening up.

She clicked on a few of the rooms, looking inside. "Has a nice kitchen –I like the deck…ooooh, there's even a Jacuzzi big enough for more than one person!"

Thankfully, she didn't veto that. Maybe, if we chose that one, I could get to go to Goode.

"And it's approximately 30 minutes to get into the city, where all your interviews and others will mostly take place," she added. "That's not too bad, right?"

"Not at all," I said. "It's perfect."

She scrolled down. "The price isn't that bad either."

I watched as Sarah continued looking through the pricing details. _You're moving to San Francisco! _My mind chorused. I still couldn't believe it. San Francisco. I was officially going to move to San Francisco. Well, in two months, but. I was still going to move. To. San. Fran. Cis. Co.

**Hey guys! Guess what? I watched the Sea of Monsters! I didn't know that I was going to, but, I did! I'll post a movie review after I finish writing this mini paragraph. Now…Annabeth is going to move to San Francisco because of the Record Company! Whoopee! So, now, I just visited Rick Riordan's website and found out that he named Grover after someone in Sesame Street. LOL I was laughing so hard! ;D You go Grover! **

**My Sea of Monsters Movie Review –**

**I suppose it was pretty good for a movie, but plotwise…I was a little disappointed.**

***There will be spoilers below! (I'll give you a second to close your eyes)**

**Things I loved:**

**1) When Percy rides the wave. It's really cool!**

**2) The funny moments! I absolutely LOVED the "It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all…"**

**3) Hermes. Even though it wasn't exactly accurate, I still enjoyed that part, and it was nice to have George and Martha.**

**4) The beginning! The 'prologue' part when there's little Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, and Luke**

**5) TYSON! Clarisse was really funny too**

**Things I didn't love:**

**1) Didn't see much 'wise girl' in it. Actually, I don't think Annabeth does much in the movie, besides almost dying and opening the thermos. **

**2) Many deleted and added scenes. There is no amusement park in the book! I was disappointed to find there was no guinea pig part ;(**

**3) The prophecy. And when Kronos comes. Really, I did not see that coming, did you? **

**4) The Percabeth was…how do I say it…confusing. Percy didn't care that much about Annabeth (I know, he and her don't recognize their 'thing' together yet) until she almost dies. Basically, he's like, yeah yeah yeah ok and then OMIGOSH ANNABETH COME BACK TO ME. They hug, but I don't see any hearts until the end, when she almost dies.**

**5) The scenes. I really think my own imagination was better, like the sheep part and the Cyclops cave in the book. I also always imagined Thalia's tree on a hill, not surrounded by other trees.**

**Well, there's my movie review! (Sorry, it's really long) If you are a HUGE fan of PJO, I don't think I'd recommend this movie –it'd really disappoint you. If you aren't that big of a fan, I think it's safe to watch ;) To all of you who are reading this right now, thanks for taking your time to read this –it means a lot (a lot of people just skip this) I won't be updating for a week because I won't have time, so sorry that you guys will have a kind of long update. Nevertheless, keep reading, and review! (You can tell me a few of your own opinions on the movie) Oh yeah, and HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY PERCY! And anniversary as well –eat some blue cake for me! To all my followers and reviewers, thanks for reading! –Sophia**


	36. Chapter 36

**Percy Pov**

"So, what's the plan?" Jason asked as we checked out of the hotel. It was now Wednesday –we'd stayed a few extra nights. I checked my watch, though I already knew the time. I guess it just seemed like a business-like thing to do.

"We can take the train to Los Angeles, and we should get there by Friday," I started. "Then we can go to the bigger airport, where flights will go out sooner, and hopefully by Saturday afternoon we'll be back at San Francisco."

Piper considered this. "That makes sense," she nodded, tugging her suitcase as we went out the doors.

"We have enough money, right?" Hazel asked as we headed towards the train station. All of us took out our wallets as we combined everything together. "Save enough money for the plane tickets," she added.

We paused in front of the station to count everything up. "We only have enough money for two tickets," Jason said helplessly. "How will we get two more?"

We went over to the ticket desk. "Hi –what time is the train to Los Angeles?" Piper asked. The ticket lady handed us a paper of the schedules of the trains leaving.

"Los Angeles train left three minutes ago," she pointed with her pen. "The next train there will be at 5:00, in six hours," she circled a time at the bottom of the paper. "It's the last one –the next train heading to Los Angeles won't be for a week if you miss this one." She handed the paper to Piper. She winced as she looked at the train schedules.

We thanked her, and walked to the side.

"Right now, our problem is getting two more train tickets," Hazel slid the handle of her suitcase down. "That's our biggest problem. Any ideas on how to earn the money?"

A middle aged couple passed us, arguing. I caught the words "two extra train tickets to Los Angeles?!" and walked over to them, excusing myself quietly from Jason, Hazel, and Piper.

"Excuse me," I said politely, cutting into their conversation.

The woman stopped blaming the man for a second and turned to me. "Hello, dear," she said in a voice much kinder than she'd used on her husband. "Is there anything you need?"

"Um –yes. Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I couldn't help overhearing you two saying something about extra train tickets to Los Angeles?"

She nodded. "Yes – we're off to Los Angeles to visit my parents –you know, summer's almost over, so we thought a mini reunion would be nice," she explained. I nodded. "We have two extra tickets, because my dear husband Rob," she took a moment to glare at him, "bought 23 tickets instead of 21," she sighed.

"It was an accident Jen–I asked for a head count and two of them went in line again, so I counted 20, then you, me, and dad," Rob shook his head.

"So many years –you still don't know how many children you have? Honestly –"

"21 tickets? Wow," I said, acting impressed, trying to switch the topic.

"Yes –we have 18 children, plus Rob's father," she informed, smiling proudly.

"You both must be very talented –raising 18 kids," I blurted, not knowing what else to say.

"Why thank you, sweetheart," Jen said, feeling flattered.

"You're very welcome –now, if there's any chance –my friends and I are in need of just two more train tickets…" I pointed towards the direction of Jason, Hazel, and Piper, then explained how we needed to get to Los Angeles as soon as we could.

She immediately nodded. "Of course –we don't need them anyway," she reached into her purse and pulled out two clean, crisp tickets.

"Thank you so much," I said gratefully.

"You're welcome honey –enjoy your trip!" They went back off, arguing again.

I went over to my friends, who were discussing possible decisions.

"I suppose we _could_ use our plane ticket money…but then one of us would have to stay behind at the airport," Jason shared.

"I'll stay behind then –I'll just find another way to get back to San Francisco…" Piper said, starting to take out her phone to call her dad.

Jason took the phone from her. "Of course not, Pipes, we are definitely not leaving you _or_ anyone behi –"

"No one is going to get left behind," I bumped in, showing them the train tickets.

Hazel's eyes went huge. "You stole –"

"I didn't steal them –someone gave them to me," I explained what happened to them, as we bought two more.

"Well, we were lucky –make sure we all have at least two hundred dollars with us in case," Piper told us as we sat down on the chairs to wait.

"Oh –how come I've never thought of it before?" I took the Piper's phone from Jason and started dialing a number.

"What is it?" Jason asked.

"I'm going to ask for a refund for the concert tickets since we don't need them anymore –then we can have extra money," I said as I waited for someone to pick up.

"Good idea," Piper commented, and leaned back on her chair, closing her eyes.

"Hello –this is the front desk –how may I help you?" A woman's voice rang out.

"Hi –I'm wondering if I can have a refund for the Annabeth Chase concert tickets?" My voice felt dry as I said Annabeth's full name.

I could hear her tapping on her computer. "Of course –may I ask the reason why?"

"My friends and I missed the concert at Los Angeles, so…"

"Missed the concert in Los Angeles? The concert is _this_ Saturday, you couldn't have."

"This Saturday?" I pulled the tickets out of my pocket to double check. "No, the date says it was last Saturday."

"No no no, there was a mistake –someone accidentally booked the concert to last Saturday –it's actually supposed to be _this_ Saturday –_last_ Saturday Annabeth Chase was performing in Nashville."

"Really?" My heart pounded. The concert was this Saturday?

"Yes –would you still like your refund?"

"Hold on a second," I said, and put my hand over the phone. "Guys!" Piper's eyes immediately shot open, and Hazel and Jason quickly turned towards me. "The concert is actually _this_ Saturday –they accidentally scheduled it _last_ Saturday –_last_ Saturday she was in Nashville," I said, my energy level rising.

"So that means we still have time to go to the concert!" Hazel cheered, accidentally knocking down her suitcase. "Whoops," she said, picking it up.

"We still can go, right? We can ride the train to Los Angeles which will arrive Friday –then Saturday night we can go to the show and Sunday we'll take a plane back home," Piper sorted out the priorities.

I forgot that the lady was still waiting on the phone. "Oh –sorry about that -we don't need a refund anymore."

"Okay then. Enjoy the show and have a nice day!"

"You too." I hung up, feeling accomplished.

p~p~p~p

"San Diego! Everyone off to San Diego!"

I rubbed my eyes and looked around. Everyone on the train was getting up and fidgeting with their luggage, as they hurried out.

"San Diego?" I thought aloud. Maybe I was still asleep. I reclosed my eyes.

"San Diego! Everyone off to San Diego!"

My eyes shot open, and now fully awake and alert. My geography was terrible, but I was pretty sure San Diego was under Los Angeles, which meant…we missed our stop! "Guys!" I shook them vigorously. "We missed our stop!"

Jason woke up immediately, though it took a while for Hazel and Piper woke.

"San Diego is the last stop –if you guys are planning on staying on the train," she said, her voice filled with irritation.

"What?" Hazel squinted her eyes. "San Diego?"

"We missed our stop," I quickly filled in for her. "Excuse me, miss," I said to the assistant, who was starting to leave. She turned to us. "We accidentally missed the stop to Los Angeles –could there be another way to go there?"

"Yes," she said, rolling her eyes. "There's something called the bus."

I took a deep breath. This woman surely wasn't making this easy. "Er –I meant…by _train_."

"Well, you could take a train to L.A. that leaves…Monday," she said.

"Monday?" Jason stepped up. "That's too late."

"Well that's _too_ _bad_! Now, you all can decide what to do off the train –please get off now, and I mean right _now_. Off, off, get off," she shooed us off, leaving us at the train station lobby with our luggage at our feet.

"Well…that woman was really…annoyed," Jason said finally, as we stared at the ground.

"What should we do now? It's already Friday afternoon," Piper glanced around. "We can't use up our plane ticket money –which means we have no money left."

"Hey, where's our luggage?" Hazel noticed. We all looked around. Our suitcases and bags were…gone!

"Where did everything go?" I said, checking under a seat.

Piper huffed. "Great. _No_ money, and _no_ luggage."

"Someone must've accidentally took it!"

Hazel folded her arms. "Our luck gets even better," she sighed.

I looked around the lobby. "It has to be somewhere," I said, double checking someone's suitcase to see if it was ours. The man grunted. "Sorry," I quickly apologized.

"Those suitcases have our photo ID's! If we don't have them, we can't go back to San Francisco!" Hazel bit her lip, looking worried.

"Good thing we have our wallets with us –if we didn't, we wouldn't have any money –not even a penny for our plane tickets," Piper said. We started walking to the nearest railroad platform to check if someone might've brought it there.

"Let's just…calm down. Whoever took our things couldn't have gone far. They probably –" I started to say.

"Hey! That's the ribbon I tied to my suitcase!" Jason walked farther towards the platform, Hazel, Piper and I following reluctantly. He picked up what looked like a pink ribbon with Winnie the Pooh designs on it.

Hazel looked doubtful. "It could've been anyone's, Jason."

He shook his head. "It even has the stain from the Jello Ellie ate." He pointed to a purple smudge, and looked ahead at the sign. "Arizona," he read.

That meant…the person with our luggage was headed to Arizona.

**Hello my faithful readers! Chapter 36 already? My gods! Let me just say my heart warms when I think about the time I only had 14 reviews and 13 followers -and NOW?! WHAT. 226 reviews? ) I'm so sorry I didn't update in a long time ;) School has definitely started –sigh- which means I'll be updating about once a week now instead. Nevertheless, this summer has been wonderful, and though I'm hesitant on going back to school –THE HOUSE OF HADES IS COMING OUT SOON! I'm sooooooooooo excited –anyone else? Now, question time! If you were a demigod, who would be your parent? I think I'd be half daughter of Apollo, half Poseidon. Apollo, because I LOVE music so much. Poseidon, because I just love being in the water, especially the ocean and I love horses and I really want one! How about you guys? –Sophia **


	37. Chapter 37

**Annabeth Pov**

_A Little Like Love_

_Album: Feel It Now_

_I think my heart is racing, oh_

_My cheeks are reddening, oh_

_I can't control it, no_

_It's a kind of feeling, yeah_

_The best of all…_

_I think it feels a little like love…._

"By the way, I've started working on the new album –Feel It Now –I'll give you the music after the show," I told Mike and Tony on the way to our hotel. We had just arrived in Los Angeles, where my show was going to be Saturday –tomorrow.

"Is it transposed to G Major?" Mike asked, as Tony drummed his fingers on the back of the passenger seat.

"Yes –and I made sure all the chords are…" I went over everything with them, as they nodded.

"Sarah –I –what are you doing?" I asked her, who was shoving a spoonful of curry into her mouth.

She swallowed. "Trying to get the babies out faster. Spicy food helps –I found that out on a website! They need to get out before we go to take a trip to San Francisco," she said, scooping up the last bits and reaching for another box.

The plan would be: Tomorrow –last show for tour. After that –on Monday, the next week, we'd be on our way to San Francisco to manage everything for the record company and move most of our furniture the house that we decided on (the one near Goode High!). After that, we'd have two months, and then finally move there.

"I think you should just wait for them to come out when they want to," I eyed her huge bowl.

"Uh uh. They need to be out before Monday. I can't afford to be in labor on the tour bus," she said with, continuing to eat – she could practically feed an army with the food she had.

"That's two weeks before," I said doubtfully.

She shrugged as she opened another box, which I took away from her.

"Hey!" she complained, and tried to grab it from me.

Since we were in the car, I didn't have much space, so I passed it to Mike who passed it to Tony, who hid it under his seat.

Sarah glared at us, obviously too big to reach over and grab it. "Fine. I'll just order a few more," she said, and huffed.

Mike and I looked at each other, like _Ugh. Cranky pregnant women._

"After, I'm going on a six hour walk when we get to the hotel," she announced. "I'll be back by dinner, don't worry."

I sighed. "Sarah, don't be pushing too hard on yourself. You have to rest at this time!"

She shook her head confidently. "I don't need rest, I need this baby –_these_ babies out!" she said forcefully, as Tom found a parking spot and we got out of the car ("I don't need help getting out of the car!" Sarah assured us, then almost fell seconds later, if Mike hadn't been there to catch her).

a~a~a~a

Because I finished most of my songwriting for today, I had nothing else planned for the rest of the day.

I hadn't looked at all the text messages I'd gotten except from Tessa and my other appointments for interviews and photo shoots. I scrolled through my phone, looking at the mix of random phone numbers that had texted me.

_Hi! _

_ Sent from Unknown_

I looked through all of them, and most of them read the same things. I figured they'd gotten the wrong phone number, and decided to read one more just to make sure. It said:

_Hellooo Annabeth Chase!_ _Remember the time when I almost spilled that fluid on you during science?_

_ Sent from Unknown_

What? So these were people at Goode High! Texting me…but who…of course. Rachel –my phone number had been written in a paper in that folder she found.

I looked through all the messages (there was definitely more than 200) and saw one from someone I actually knew.

_Hey Annabeth! It's Silena, by the way! I still really cannot face the fact that you're Annabeth Chase –but I'm sure it's probably getting annoying to you since everyone at school has your number…_

_ Everyone at school has my number? _I thought, perplexed.

_Anyways, I just wanted to show you this video that was recorded –please don't kill me! I just found it so cute! _

I shrugged and tapped on the video, waiting it to load. Knowing Silena, she probably sent a video of puppies, or something.

I pressed play, expecting to see at least some type of furry animal come into view. Instead, what I saw was…me and Percy, having another one of our tutoring classes. I searched my brain, trying to remember which one. I only distantly recalled that day –there had been a practice fire drill during the last period, and it had rained. After it ended, we were soaking wet, so we decided to stay inside instead of tutoring outside.

We were sitting in the library, and at the moment, I was demonstrating something on a sheet of scrap paper. Percy was watching me closely, as I scribbled something down, explaining – maybe a formula?

_Ew, my hair, _I noticed, wishing I could've at least pulled my wet hair back into a ponytail. Wait…why did I care? _I cared before,_ I told myself confidently. _That was before._

Whoever was recording this (and somehow I had a feeling it was Silena, since when she moved her hand to switch the angle of the camera, I saw the hot pink nail polish she wore) zoomed in and moved a little bit forward to hear what we were saying.

"So…finally, you need to add them to both sides, and then subtract," I was saying.

"Oh…like this?" he took the pencil from me and wrote something down. I checked it.

"Very close." I smiled, probably glad that I was seeing progress. "Except you forgot this…" I quickly rewrote the equation and showed him, step by step.

"Oh yeah –I knew I forgot that!" he laughed, as I did too.

His phone beeped. He quickly checked it, and I noticed myself looking at him. "Rachel," he groaned, slipping it back into his pocket. I watched myself pretend to look at his textbook as he turned back to me. "She told me to wait outside for her after Period 8."

"Oh," I forced a smile. "Cool." Wait…why did I care? _I cared before_, I reminded myself again, maybe a little less confidently. _That was before_.

He looked down at his worksheet, looking at the next question. He quietly concentrated, his eyebrows scrunching in that cute little way.

"43," he finally decided, writing it down. He gave me a nervous smile. "Did I get it right?"

"Yes!" I'd said, exhilarated.

He looked relieved, and continued doing the next questions. I noticed myself in the video staring at him intently as he wrote the equations down. Even now, sitting on my hotel bed, I blushed. Wait…why _do_ I care? _That was before_, I tried to convince myself. _Before_.

After a few minutes, (Silena's hand probably got tired of holding the camera, because after a while she moving it and it lost focus many times) he finished, and I checked all his answers.

"You got everything except this one wrong…" I started.

"Awww," Percy looked guilty, like a sad puppy dog.

"Just kidding! You got everything right! Good job!" I beamed.

"Yes!" he looked pleased and satisfied.

I paused it and looked how much longer the video was going to take. 2 more seconds? I found that I felt myself…disappointed. Crestfallen. Because I wanted this story to have a happy ending. I wanted this story to have the prince marry the princess. I wanted this story of _me_ to live happily ever after.

a~a~a~a

"Annabeth!" Tony rushed into my room. I had been taking a nap, and a girl needs her sleep, especially if she's stays up until 12 after each show and has an hour of sleep each day.

I sat up sleepily. "What."

"Get up! Sarah's in labor!"

Immediately, all the tiredness slipped away from me. "WHAT?"

"Exactly! Now get up! We need to get her to the hospital!"

"How did you get my room key card?"

"Sarah had a copy and she gave it to me to get you! Okay now come on!"

"She's supposed to be due in two weeks, not anytime today!"

"Well, the spicy curry probably is the one to blame! Now hurry!"

I shoved on my jacket and raced out the door with him, taking the elevator down.

"Where's Sarah?" I asked, going through the revolving doors.

"She's in the car. Tom's driving," he panted, and slid the limo door open.

Inside, Sarah was breathing in and out, closing her eyes. Tony climbed in after me, Mike already in the back, supplying food and water for her in case she needed it.

"Sarah –are you okay?" I asked her, balling up a few plastic bags in my hand. Hey, you never know when she'll start puking in the car –now that would just be delightful.

"I'mfinecanwejustleaveandgotothehospital?" she said impatiently, no doubt in discomfort.

Tom started driving, and as we were on the road, all the cars were slowing down.

"What?" he squinted his eyes down the road. "Why is there –oh. Traffic. Ms. Chase –this looks bad," he winced. I looked through the windshield. Sure enough, there was a long line of cars lining up from at least eight miles away, maybe more –if there was, I couldn't see it.

"No –we have to get there as soon as possible!" I half yelled, as Sarah clutched the door handle and inhaled sharply.

"You might get there faster if you walk," Tom sighed. "It's the only way –all the buses and taxis end today at 6:00."

At this, Sarah spoke. "We –are –_not_ –walking," she said between deep breaths.

I closed my eyes for a count of three. "Okay," I said finally. "How long does it take to walk to the hospital?"

He looked at his watch, then looked down the road. "45 minutes," he said. "If you stay in the car, it could take more than four hours because of the traffic." He drove the limo to the curb. "It's your choice, but I'm sure Sarah would be far more comfortab –"

"We're walking," I said firmly, opening the car door.

Sarah's eyes yelled out something that was probably not appropriate. Tony and Mike helped hoist her out of the car, which rewarded them with a lot of bruises as she tried to stay in the car.

"Okay," I said finally. "Time to walk to the hospital."

**Hi guys! Well, here's your update! Annabeth finally learns that she likes Percy, and actually allows herself without second guessing and convincing herself now! Okay, so a few questions you guys had: When will you update? Well, usually, I update when I feel like it, so there's really no assigned due date. I promise I'll update at least once a week, don't worry! Another question you guys had: What would I name the next book of Heroes of Olympus after The House of Hades? That is a really hard question, actually! I'm not exactly sure, but probably like The Temple of Zeus or something because I just feel it makes sense –The Son of NEPTUNE, the Mark of ATHENA, the House of HADES. Really, it's not that Zeus is my favorite ****_favorite, _****(sorry Zeus –you know you're awesome!) but I just think it fits. Now, my question for you guys –favorite scene(s) in either PJO or HOO? Mine is either all the cute little Percabeth moments when they are not dating yet (because it's just funnier) and the part when Luke dies. Sorry Luke. I hated you for too long. Well, I guess he's okay. But I ****_cannot_**** tolerate Lukabeth! Anyways, I mainly like the part when Luke dies because it's when Annabeth finally decides she loves Percy instead, and Luke as a big brother. Comment what you think! Till next time! -Sophia**


	38. Chapter 38

**Percy Pov**

Piper came back from the ticket desk to us. "Well, the Arizona train doesn't leave till 15 minutes, but everyone's boarding it now. I asked if we could go on the train and look to see if anyone has our baggage, but she said we need tickets, which…we don't have any," she plopped in the seat next to Jason.

"Okay," he interrupted the silence. "How about we look for our luggage, go to the airport, use the money we have, and go home?"

"What? We can't just go home after we have our luggage –that is, _if_ we get our luggage back! Not without seeing Annabeth –we didn't do all this for nothing!" Hazel yelled, obviously irritated. I didn't blame her. I didn't blame any of them. Here we were, tired, dirty, upset, annoyed…and we'd gotten nowhere.

Piper sighed. She probably didn't feel like yelling, though if she did, she probably would've. "Well, we have to do something," she said, picking at her shirt.

"How about we first use our plane ticket money to buy train tickets, find the person who took our luggage, and head to Los Angeles to the airport?" Jason put his head in his hands. "We're getting nothing accomplished, so how about we start with our suitcases?"

"Then how will we fly back home?" Piper said gloomily. "The best we can do is use the money for our plane tickets, and one of us will have to stay."

It was quiet for a long time. Hazel huffed and crossed her arms. Jason looked tired and frustrated, as he propped his head on his hands. Piper bit her lip and looked out the window.

"I think we should go with Jason's idea. Buy a ticket, find our luggage –if it's there –come off the train before it heads to Arizona, use some more of our plane ticket money to take a train to Los Angeles, and have just enough time to go to the concert," I finally said. Piper and Hazel looked at me like I was crazy.

"How will we all get back, then?" Piper asked.

"That doesn't matter –if we don't buy the tickets, we can't get our luggage," I told them. They agreed, since it was the best idea we had. We went up to the desk, and Hazel winced as she watched Jason hand our precious money over to the lady. We weren't even going to go to Arizona –all we needed to do was get on the _train_ to Arizona to retrieve our luggage, and come off.

"Wait," I said, as we paid for four train tickets to Arizona. I dug into my pocket and took out a plastic bag full of extra money. "I forgot I had this. My dad gave it to me in case –so we have enough money to pay for a train to Los Angeles and get on a flight. All of us!"

"Yeah Percy!" Piper looked much more energized, having all this stress taken away from her.

Jason exhaled. "Well, we don't have as much to worry about now!"

"Thank goodness," Hazel sighed, relieved, as we headed to our train platform.

We boarded the train and scanned the room for our suitcases. It took a while, and many passengers kept staring at us.

"There!" Hazel pointed to a short pudgy man sitting down with four suitcases –the purple one Piper's, the brown one Hazel's, the black one Jason's, and the blue one mine.

He was reading the newspaper, and didn't notice us until I cleared my throat. He looked up suspiciously, then immediately looked nervous.

"Excuse me, but I think those –" I pointed to the suitcases, "are ours."

He started drumming his fingers on his chair. "Yes –I'm sorry –you can just take them," he bit his lip and uncomfortably started to fidget. "It was, um, you know, a mistake."

"How can a blue, brown, purple, and black suitcase be mistaken?" Jason stepped forward.

"And you can't just say 'you can just take them' –we spent money and time to get on this train! We're going to have to talk to the train staff assistants and customer service. Or worse –call the police," Piper fingered her phone, getting ready to take it out.

I was getting ready to say something as well to add on to what Piper was saying when he burst into tears. "I'm _sorry_," he wailed, and all my anger turned to sympathy. "I'm just trying to get to my wife and kids who are all the way in Florida, and I have no food, clothes, or money –I was desperate, so I stole someone's train ticket and took your luggage!" He wiped his nose on his sleeve and made a sound like an elephant blowing a horn.

"How did you end up in California?" I asked him.

"Percy," Hazel hissed, nudging me. "He _stole_ our suitcases. This is not something to give pity on!"

The man wiped his eyes. "It's sort of a long story."

"A long story? Bet ours is longer. You can tell us," I sat down.

He sighed. "I'll put it the short way. I was on a business trip, and I decided to take a detour, which made me end up in Bakersfield. Then, all my money and luggage got stolen, and I walked from there to here, which had the nearest train station. The ticket on the ground was only up to Arizona, so once I get there, I'm going to need to figure out how to get to Florida," he simplified.

"Really?"

He nodded sadly.

I stuck my hand in my pocket. "I'm sorry –we just really need our suitcases back, sir. But…you can have this." I reached out and handed him money enough for _one_ plane ticket –money that I was willing to give up for.

"Percy!" Piper said, horror struck. "Then you can't get back to –"

"You can take a plane to Florida when you get to Arizona," I interrupted Piper. "I know how it feels like to be in your position. We," I gestured towards my friends, "know how it feels like."

The man seemed reluctant to take it.

"Take it," I offered. Finally, he took it the money.

"Thank you," he said. "I don't know how to repay –"

"How about just give us our suitcases back?" I asked.

"Of course! Yes –and thank you," he said again.

"Have a safe trip to Arizona and Florida," I smiled, as Piper, Jason, Hazel and I rolled our suitcases to the front of the train –which started moving.

We all looked at each other frantically, which passed out a bad vibe.

"Oh no –we spent too much time talking!" Hazel looked at us worriedly.

"Stop the train!" Jason yelled, waving his arms up and down. Everyone ignored him –I guess the people thought he was trying to act dramatic or make them stop for no reason. The train speeded up, faster and faster.

When he realized no one was paying attention to him, he slumped and looked at me.

Piper sighed. "What should we do now?"

Hazel's voice was stiff. "Well, there's nothing we _can_ do but go to Arizona, then buy tickets from there to Los Angeles."

We found a seat on the train, finally, looking out the passing landscapes.

"Percy! That was so…mature of you," Piper looked at me as we found a seat on the train. "You gave up that for him?"

"He needs it more than I do," I said truthfully, having no doubt about it.

It was quiet for a long time.

Finally, I couldn't stand it. Our flight had been delayed. Car broke down. Missed our train stop. Luggage stolen. We were going to Arizona unwillingly, when we could've came off the train earlier. We'd be on the train on Los Angeles right now already, if we came off a few seconds before. Now, we had to spend an extra couple of hours, and we probably couldn't make it to the concert. I glanced over my friends' faces –all of theirs were tired, ashen-faced, and frustrated. "Look –guys, I'm sorry. This is all my fault, and I've made it all a mess. I'm tearing us all apart," my eyes found a spot on the floor.

"Of course it isn't your fault," Piper said. "It's _our_ fault, actually. You're the only one who hasn't been complaining at all, and has hope. _I'm_ sorry, for letting fate get the best of us."

"Yeah," Hazel agreed.

Jason nodded. "What Piper said. We need to have hope to keep going, not just complain and wait for it to be over. Brothers forever, right?" he cracked a smile.

"And, I'm also sorry for overreacting, it's just…I was looking forward to seeing Annabeth –and now, the chance is gone…I'm just really disappointed…" Suddenly, she quickly straightened up as if she said something wrong. "Oh, Percy, I'm _so_ sorry –you –you must be the most disappointed of all, with you wanting to apologize to her and to have another chance…"

Even Piper cringed, and Jason looked sympathetically at me.

"It's fine," I managed out. "Really, it's –it's okay."

"Sometimes, God needs to make the stars align so they can form a constellation," Piper said.

p~p~p~p

We had finally arrived in Los Angeles. After going to Arizona, getting off the train, buying four tickets, getting on the train again to California…we actually went through it.

We wheeled out our suitcases (yes, we had all four of them) and stepped into the blinking lights of the city, alive and welcoming. We were finally at our real destination.

Jason practically kissed the sidewalk because he was so glad we were back in California.

"Yes!" Hazel cheered. "In Los Angeles!"

Since we arrived three hours earlier than we expected, we still had time to go to the concert.

We found a hotel and quickly got into our rooms, unpacking.

"So, what do you think –how about an early dinner for the four of us?" Piper asked.

We all agreed, and walked downtown to a restaurant close by.

"Los Angeles is amazing," I commented as we passed a fountain squirting water and forming a heart.

"I still can't believe we're here –ow," Jason's ankle turned, and he winced.

"What is it? Are you okay?" Piper automatically bent down, and Hazel and I did the same. Piper was inspecting his foot, checking for bruises.

"I'm fine," he assured us, and waved us away. "It's oka-ow," he tried to get up, not successfully hiding the pain.

"We need to get you to the hospital," I said immediately.

"No, then we'll –ow –miss the concert," he protested, and tried to walk on. "I'm fine –see?" he took a few tentative steps forward, masking the pain, although I could still see it inside him.

I shook my head. "It's fine. You can't go on like this. It's better if we at least check it. Let's go," I said, as Hazel and Piper helped him up.

**Sorry for not updating in a while –I've been so busy planning the next few chapters, that I apparently forgotten that I still had to finish this one! Well, now that you guys have waited for so long, GET READY FOR SOME PERCABETH BABY in either the next chapter or the one after ;) The House of Hades is coming out soon! A few of you guys had a question: Who's my favorite PJO/HOO character? Percy! He's my absolute favorite –sweetest guy ever! My question: (um, I'm kind of afraid to ask this but I'll be brave) On a scale from 1-5, how would you rate this story? Please review! –Sophia **


	39. Chapter 39

**Annabeth Pov**

_No Matter What_

_Album: Feel it Now_

_No matter how I try to hide it from myself_

_I like you_

_No matter what we are apart_

_I like you_

_Because no matter what, nothing can tear us up_

_Whatever they do to bring us down_

_We'll be together_

_No matter what_

We were now finally in the hospital, with Sarah in complete pain, clutching the hospital bed handles.

"Try and relax," I gave her some advice. "Imagine that you're out in a field –a cool breeze is blowing on your neck, dandelions are growing under your feet…"

"MMMM!"

"Okay, I'll stop…"

I guess it's me to take the blame for her getting irritated. We had to walk about 3.8 miles, which Sarah wasn't happy about. Tony and Mike were both practically carrying her on their shoulders –yeah, we passed Tony's girlfriend, who lives in Los Angeles…she was really confused –of course, I'd be weirded out as well if my boyfriend was carrying a pregnant woman. Yeah…Anyways!

Tom had said 45 minutes to walk to the hospital, right? Well, it doesn't take 45 minutes when someone is in labor! Sarah had to stop every two minutes and go to a bathroom to puke. I'd suggested to call the ambulance, but she rejected the idea.

"Bad –memories," she gasped, clutching her stomach. "Nine –years –old –broke –my leg –smells bad –like the hosp -" she didn't get to finish because she immediately doubled over the nearest trash can –which turned out to be a _recycling_ can.

After we had barely walked eight minutes, she was basically crawling on the floor. "Sarah, you have to keep going!" I said through a smile as people passed by, staring at the pandemonium she was causing. "We're almost there! Well, kind of…just maybe another 35 minutes or so…"

In ten minutes, we finally hauled her up, and she walked a block without complaining. In fact, she was doing a pretty good job until we started on the next block.

"Tra can?" She asked.

"What?" Mike scratched his head. "Did she just say _tra_ can?"

"Tra can! Need –to –mm!"

Finally, I realized what she was talking about. I dug through my purse, looking through it frantically. No luck –I'd forgotten the plastic bags on the car. I looked around the street in panic –no trash cans.

Sarah looked so pale, she might've came back from the dead. Without warning, she spilled the last of her curry out right in the middle of the sidewalk.

The rest of the walk wasn't any better. She accidentally puked on someone's dog, almost slipped and fell over, was on the verge of passing out, and others that Mike, Tony, and I don't really want to mention. So, now you can see why she's so unreasonably angry with me. It was tough, with Sarah vociferating down every street, walking at one second per mile.

The doctors came in and gave her a bit of medicine so the pain cleared off a tiny bit –enough for her to talk normally.

"Annabeth, the show. You –ow…ow, ow –you have to go tonight!"

I'd totally forgotten about the show. "I can't leave you here! You're giving birth!"

She squirmed. Probably, she didn't want to be reminded that she was in deep discomfort.

"This is your last show for your," she sucked in sharply before she continued, "tour. You have to make it up for all those…other ones where you zoned off and froze."

She was right. My other shows hadn't been all bright and sunny –I couldn't miss this one. I couldn't disappoint the record company. Or worse, my fans. But I had a duty I had to take care of.

"No, I can't. I'll just cancel it."

"Annabeth! You have to! All of your other shows…weren't so amazing. Oww…" she had a minute of absolute silence as she squinted hard and breathed in deeply. "This was supposed to be the night when you show everyone you're capable of this –everyone already thinks you're distracted because of boys!"

_Because of boys_, my mind repeated. _No, not because of boys. Because of a boy. Because of…_my thoughts hesitated. _Say it! Say it! _The other side pushed. _Because of…Percy._

This whole time, I've been trying to run away from love, only to have it right behind me. I'm not scared anymore –no one can make me feel pressured, embarrassed, or inferior. They can't have control over me, but I can.

"Ow, ow, OWWWWWWW," Sarah suddenly yelled, gasping.

"What is it? Do you feel them coming through?" a nurse immediately came to her aid.

Another two nurses zipped right next to the first nurse, and they started confiding the procedure.

"No, it just hur –OWWWWWWWW," she yelled so loudly that the people next door could probably hear her.

"Well, it's irrefutable that it'll come within a few hours of time –at maximum two," one of the other nurses said, and which came with a consensus of agreement among them.

I tried to ferret out the important information. Sarah was going to be giving birth between one to two hours. There's one hour left until the show. I'm supposed to _be_ at the show, getting ready. Tom is still stuck in traffic, therefore I'd have to _walk_ to the stage. Tony and Mike need to be here with Sarah to help her, so I'd have no drummer or guitarist.

I'd have to cancel my last show, no matter what risk it'd put me in.

I turned myself to the wall so Sarah wouldn't see what I was doing. It wasn't exactly helpful that there was a very disturbing picture –a precedent of a person giving birth. I lowered my eyes to the floor as I dialed the number quickly on my cell phone.

"Hello?" Tessa asked hurriedly, in a rush.

"Hi, Tessa!" I lowered my voice to a whisper. "How are you? It's me, Annabeth!"

"Annabeth? You're supposed to be getting ready, aren't you?"

I gave a nervous laugh. "Um, about that…"

"HUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sarah screamed unexpectedly.

I could practically see the confused face on Tessa. "Are you at a _farm_?"

"Oh! No no no, I'm…kind of at the hospital…yeah, the nurses are about to get ready for the baby –_babies_, I mean…"

"_You're_ having _babies_?!"

"NOOO, not me. Sarah, remember? She's having twins, and right now she's –"

"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sarah hollered again.

"Yeah," I finished. "My point is, I don't think I can be there today."

"What? Annabeth, I really don't know if you –"

"It's an emergency," I pressed on. "Please, Tessa, _please_."

She sighed. "I'll try."

I exhaled. "Thank you, thank you! I'll make it up to you somehow!" my whisper raised an octave higher.

"Annabeth! What –are – you –" Sarah yelled across the room.

"Bye!" I quickly whispered to Tessa and headed towards Sarah.

"What –were –you –" she said suspiciously as she squirmed uncomfortably.

I shoved my phone in my pocket. "Oh, I kind of canceled the show."

"You did WHAT?! OWWWWW owwwww," she whimpered. Thankfully, since her mind was on the pain, she didn't yell at me as much as she would've wanted to.

A nurse came over and quickly gave her some more pain medicine.

My phone rang, and I quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Ms. Chase, it's Tom. I'm finally here –I just can't seem to find a parking spot that's suitable, so I pulled over to the side."

"Who is it," Sarah said weakly without tone.

"Tom," I told her.

"Can you tell him to get my purse? It's –in –the limo," she managed out.

"He can't get out of the car since he didn't find a parking spot –do you want me to get it?"

She nodded.

"Hey Tom –I'm coming there to get Sarah's purse –you stay down there, and we'll figure out what to do after," I said.

"Okay –I parked in the back of the hospital, so you might have to walk quite a bit…" he started.

"Thanks," I quickly said, and hung up.

I swiftly pushed open the door and went through the hallways, taking the giant elevator.

**OKAY. Sorry to freak out now, but WHO HERE HAS WATCHED THE VIDEO OF RICK RIORDAN READING THE HOUSE OF HADES?! He reads the part of Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus, (sections of it) and…okay. I'll let you figure out yourselves, but hurry so we can scream together! **

**Now, continuing on after my dramatic freakout. A few of you had this question: If I could invent a demigod character, what would it be? Probably…hm…Apollo. I would do Poseidon, but, you know. If there's another child of him, it makes Percy seem a little less important. Also, since I love singing, playing piano, and guitar, so I like Apollo. Hehe. This lucky fellow is going to be…(have to think of an Apolloish name…) Daughter of Apollo, Melody Marie:)**

**Hope you liked this chapter (thanks for all your sweet reviews) and stay tuned for Percabeth, coming up next! –Sophia**


End file.
